Unlicht
by Peaches of History
Summary: Hoenn's finest trainers - the Elite Four and the Champion - agree to take on five trainers as their pupils, as part of a multi-regional competition. These five elite trainers, however, discover that they may have bitten off a bit more than they can chew.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is the first fic I'm posting. I hope it goes well! **

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><p>The ocean was endless, terrifyingly so. It stretched from horizon to horizon, always breathing and heaving its white spit up towards us passengers of this miniscule vessel, which paled in comparison to this vicious beast that all referred to as the sea. I wanted to be finished with this trip, to be away from this vast, beautiful monster as soon and as quickly as possible, but alas! I had another entire day and night until we would reach our destination. This 24-hour time span was, in my mind, hellish, headache-inducing, and so gut-wrenching that I was sure I would be physically sick at any given moment.<p>

Upon further inspection, I found that most of the ship's occupants were keen towards passing the time through the aid of liquor, gambling, and partying. As for the light-hearted passengers, they discovered consolation to boredom by star-gazing, dreaming, and talking of intimacies, love, and all things that fell under such categories. I found my own consolation by speaking with others, but not through the liquor and the gambling, nor did I even step foot near the party.

How I was even roped into this trip... Well, it's my fault to begin with, for letting my mother talk to me into entering my name into the drawing. The drawing was to determine which lucky trainers would get to travel to separate regions to train under the Elite Four, as a special teacher-student type of thing. Five trainers would go to each of the five regions, one for each Elite Four member and one for the Champion. My mother had encouraged me to enter my name for kicks, assuming it would be a fun adventure if my name just so happened to be drawn.

So, at that point in time, I was on the boat that was to carry myself and four others to Hoenn. Of course, there were many other people on this particular boat, as they were headed to Hoenn themselves, and as of yet, I hadn't met any of the other winners. I had heard rumors about them, seen glimpses here and there, and had my own judgments (although not particularly fair, considering I didn't know a lick about any of them besides what I learned from rumors) about them. From what I knew for sure, there were two other girls and two other boys, and the boys were brothers. As the rumor concerning the boys went, it was passed along that the older of the boys hadn't initially been chosen to go, but since he knew a kid who _had _won, he and his brother browbeat the kid into giving up his spot. Wonderful.

But that was only rumor, although I wondered if it really was true. If we were basing things on the countenance of these boys, rather than personality, I would say that this rumor was no rumor at all, but instead the truth. The few glimpses I had caught of the brothers ingrained in my mind that they were rough around the edges, and troublemakers, not so much in the sense as petty vandals but as something a little smarter than that.

Anyway, on this last leg of the journey, I was standing on the top deck, listening to the sounds of the monstrous waves crashing against the side of the boat, mixed with the sounds of the romping party going on inside of the ship. I wasn't fond of traveling by boat; in fact, I had argued to try and get a flight, but the organizers of the drawing wouldn't have it, nor would the committee that pulled the strings.

The night had reached its peak - it was officially 12:00 a.m. - yet the party was still going strong, as it had been for the past few hours. On the other end of the deck there stood a group of girls and a few boys, all chatting amiably, some yawning and some practically bouncing up and down with vigor. I dug my hands into my pockets and shuffled nonchalantly across the deck, heading for the group, my curiosity dragging me forth by the nose.

Easily enough, the group parted slightly to allow me to step into a small slot, and the conversation didn't cease to flow. It went on just as it had before I had appeared on the scene. A short, blonde girl flipped her wavy hair over her shoulder, looking around at the others with serious green eyes. She started, "Well, I heard that the oldest winner on this ship is one of those two brothers. You know, the ones who stole that spot from the poor little boy? How awful, how mean can you get?" Some of the group agreed, while others merely stifled their yawns. I didn't assert an opinion or a gesture, instead opting to listen to the conversation.

A red headed boy spoke up next. "I heard the same thing. I saw them together, and boy do those guys look mean." Point in case. I wasn't the only one judging based on looks here, no matter how slimy that might sound. "Seriously. The tall one? He looks like he'll bite your head off if you ask him to point you in the direction of the forks in the buffet line, ya know?"

"Yeah!" a few voices chorused. The blonde girl's voice was heard above the rest, so she continued by saying, "And he only talks to his brother and the officials on the ship. He won't even talk to the other winners. Speaking of... Who are they? Anybody know...?" There were murmurs passing throughout the circle now, and someone's hot breath tickled my ear.

"Dude," the person began, "I heard that one of the chicks is somehow related to Cynthia! To Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh!" I quirked an eyebrow, turning to look at him. He was a head shorter than I was, with alert, sparkly black eyes. "Isn't that cool? I so wanna meet her..." He went off into a tirade about how awesome it would be for him to meet her, and if they got along well enough that maybe she would take him to Sinnoh to meet Cynthia, her blood relative.

"I think one's name is Cherry... Sherri maybe?" the red head commented thoughtfully, breaking up the murmurs.

"Sherri, it's gotta be. I'm like, one hundred percent sure it's Sherri," someone else offered.

"What does Sherri look like?" the blonde girl asked, chewing her lower lip.

"Bright red hair, blue eyes... I think," red head, or Carrot Top as I thought of him, responded.

"You think?" the blonde, or Blondie, snorted. "Does anyone know?"

The boy next to me cut into the conversation. "No, no, it's Cherry, and her hair is a soft brown color. She's really pretty, and related to Cynthia!" Blondie looked hurt.

"Prettier than me, Johnny?"

Johnny beside me turned bright red, before shaking his head fervently. "No! Of course not! Cherry pales in comparison to you! You're like a ray of sunshine, with eyes like deep pools of beautiful crystals, able to see straight into the most jaded person's soul..." So Johnny was a little poet, eh? She was delighted nonetheless. She skipped over to Johnny, tossed her arms around his neck, and kissed him full on the lips. Many of the other group members began to disperse; I stuck around for a moment to see that the couple was headed off to the lower levels of the ship, most likely to the party below deck.

With this finished, I turned on my heels and walked back to my original spot on the deck. A tall, lanky brunette girl followed me, coming to stand beside me. Amazing, how many people I was seeing for the first time just in the course of ten minutes. She pushed up her large-framed, round glasses, rubbed her nose, and looked down at her feet. I had never seen this girl before, so again my eyebrow rose in inquiry. "Hello there..."

"H-hi," she replied, clearing her throat. "Uh, my name is Sherri..."

It took a moment, but then it clicked. "Oh, oh! So they were talking about you then? They were...way off... Not that you're not pretty or anything, but... You know, they didn't mention that you had glasses." Sherri nodded, running her hand over her long brown ponytail. She wouldn't look at me, aside from staring at my feet, but I could tell that her eyes were green.

"Yeah... I get it."

"Are you okay, man? Er... Are you okay?" I would have to kick that 'man' habit eventually, especially when speaking to other girls. Sherri finally gave me the once over, starting at my feet and moving her eyes up to my face. I probably looked more like a guy than a girl, but that was okay with me. "My hair used to be shorter... But it grew out." Currently, it was only just touching my collar, and that was at the back. My bangs were shaggy enough to fall in my eyes, but generally I kept those parted down the middle and off to both sides of my forehead. My grandmother's words rang clear in the back of my head: _Brush your hair! You look like a slob. _Of course she meant well, but it still got on my nerves.

"I'm fine... Why are you dressed like that? Pardon me for being so blunt."

"Like what?"

"Well, you're wearing... Are those men's pants?"

"Yes."

"And... A button-down shirt..."

"Yes. Your point?"

"It seems to me that you're dressed like a man. Are you a cross dresser?" This girl certainly asked a lot of questions. Straight-to-the-point questions, at that.

"Well, women can't really be cross dressers, can they?"

"That's an arguable point."

"Touché. Regardless, no, I am not a cross dresser. At least, I don't consider myself to be one," I answered, looking up at her. "I just find men's clothes to be more comfortable, although I do have a suitcase jam-packed with women's clothes." Sherri nodded and shuffled her feet awkwardly, the silence surrounding us for a moment. The silence between us, I should say, as the party below the deck had gotten louder, and the waves were crashing just as steadily as before.

"Okay. That makes sense." She paused, before asking, "Have you met the others?"

"The other winners? No."

"Would you like to?"

"Yes." I wanted to see for myself if these rumors were really true or not. Sherri turned and motioned for me to follow, before guiding me to the steps that led to the lower levels of the deck. She pushed up her glasses as she led me past the level where the party music was booming, past the level that held the occupied and unoccupied rooms of the passengers, and down to a level which was also dotted with room doors. People were scattered here and there, but they talked amongst themselves, paying Sherri and myself no mind. We rounded a few corners, before coming to the end of a hallway, marked with a special plate that read, 'Reserved' in big bold letters.

Sherri pushed open the door, revealing a room about three times the size of one of the fancier suites, with a pool table in the back, a flat screen television, and numerous couches and recliners placed here and there. Lamps were on, along with ceiling fans, which whirred softly above our heads as the door clicked closed behind us. Three other sets of eyes turned to us; the first was of a girl with short blonde hair cut in a bob. Her eyes were brown like the milkiest chocolate bar you would ever find in your life. The second set belonged to a tall boy with long, dark brown hair, pulled back into a messy ponytail. He looked at me for a split second, before turning his eyes back to the flat screen.

The last set was under the ownership of a stout boy, his hair messy and unkempt. One ankle was crossed over his knee, and his arms were stretched out across the back of the couch he was sitting on. Beside him was the tall boy, while sitting at a desk, now writing away again, was the blonde. Sherri gestured to the girl first. "That's Trudy. She remembers everything she's ever heard and read. She's a brainiac."

I nodded, subtly gesturing to the two boys. Not subtly enough, though, I'm sure, because they seemed to notice. At least the stout one did. Sherri explained that the tall one hadn't told anyone his name yet, while the short one was Kat. Apparently, these were the brothers I had heard so much about. Kat turned to his brother, mumbled something, and stood, moving past us and to the door. He was gone in an instant, and the brother crossed his right leg over his left, his hand coming to his chin. He spared no one and nothing a glance or a look, apart from the television.

The atmosphere was hostile, especially surrounding the boy on the couch. I decided to follow Kat, and after thanking Sherri, I turned to leave the room. Sherri joined Trudy on the other side of the room at her desk, a conversation being struck up about the paper Trudy was writing. I let the door slam shut behind me, taking a moment to glance around the halls. When the moment was up, I was running back up the way Sherri had guided me.

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><p><strong>Review and tell me what you think! Also, I apologize for all of the bombardment of characters. That should hopefully be fixed in the second chapter. <strong>

**~Peaches**


	2. Chapter 2

**Woo! Thanks to Midget in a Bottle and MapleRain for revewing and faving/alerting! Again, sorry about the character-bombardment in the last chapter! ^_^' Here's chapter two! **

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><p>Kat was, like I said, a stout boy. His hair was a ruffled mess, auburn in color, and a little shorter than mine. Generally, people mistook me for a guy from the back, if that gives you an idea of its length. He donned khaki pants, accompanied by green suspenders and a cream-colored shirt. He was far from average, to say the least, but apparently the crowd parted for him and never regrouped, as I spotted him all the way at the end of the on-ship bar. This particular bar housed that romping party I mentioned earlier, and although the music wasn't completely to my taste, it did take my mind off of the monstrous body of water surrounding us. Granted, Kat had taken care of that for me already, but still.<p>

I didn't have to fight the crowd as I headed towards him, nervousness building in the pit of my stomach. What would I even say? Even more worrisome, would he even respond? Why had I even followed him? I shook my head as I slid into the seat beside him at the bar. The bartender glanced at me before asking, "What can I get ya?" I waved my hand dismissively, offering a "nothing, I'm fine." Seeing that it sufficed, I angled myself slightly towards Kat.

Before I had the chance to open my mouth to speak, he spoke to me, not taking his eyes from his drink. "If you're here to ask about the rumors, I don't want to hear it. Leave my brother be. For Arceus' sakes, he's a good guy..." I quirked an eyebrow, my face heating up slightly.

"I haven't the slightest idea what really spurred me to follow you. Albeit, I _am_ interested to know if the rumors are true, but if you don't want me to ask, I won't. Although I won't stop wondering, Kat," I answered, dropping my eyes to his drink. "Instead, I'll ask you what you're drinking." Kat turned to look at me, his eyes matching the color of his hair. Around him, the same feeling of hostility flowed, unnerving me, despite my willingness to talk to him.

"Don't act like we're friends, because we're not." He turned away just as abruptly as he had turned towards me, taking a sip of his drink.

I asked a stupid question next. "Is it liquor?" My voice was quiet. Kat's face reddened as his glass connected with the bar, making a sharp clinking noise as it did so.

"What _else _would it be?" He sounded rather aggravated. I could visualize him adding the adjective 'stupid' to the end of that sentence.

"Apple juice."

"Who are you, and what do you want with me?"

"I told you, I haven't the slightest idea-"

"I _know_, I _know _what you told me. 'I haven't the slightest idea what really spurred me to follow you.' Can't a guy have a drink in peace?" Kat snapped, not looking at me. My face heated up again as I felt the shades of stupidity and embarrassment fast becoming the culprits of my red face. "I'm not an idiot."

"Did I ever say you were?" I queried, feeling a little defensive as well. "I can see why these rumors spread about you and your brother..."

"Shut up!" His face reddened again as he ran one hand over the top of his head. "Do you know what everyone says about you?"

I crossed my arms. "No. Enlighten me, would you? Kat."

Kat swiveled the stool around, finishing off his drink as his expression hardened a little more. "Since nobody knows your name, they all call you Butch. Half of the ship couldn't even tell that you were a girl, and I'd say most of them still don't even know that you _are _a girl. You dress like a man and you smell like cologne, and we didn't even realize that you were one of the winners because none of your pokemon have been out this entire time."

"Yes they have. At night." My face was red hot again, so I averted my gaze for a moment, before looking back to him. "And they can call me Butch if that's their fancy. One of my friends refers to me as such, and I refer to her as Spuds. I'm used to it." Kat didn't have a response, but he didn't turn away this time.

"It's nighttime now, isn't it?" He finally queried, targeting my initial comeback.

"You want to see them, then?"

"Sure. Prove that you're a real trainer. Let's have a battle."

"Fine. We'll have it on the top deck. Six on six?"

"That sounds appropriate. _Butch_." Kat smirked a little, folding his arms over his chest. My brow furrowed as I thought to myself that maybe 'Butch' would be my name throughout this entire ordeal. If that was so, then that was fine. They could call me Butch if they wanted to. I nodded, sliding out of the seat and beginning to make my way to the entrance of the bar. I looked over my shoulder to see that he was following a few paces behind, so I sped up, taking the stairs that led to the top deck two at a time.

It didn't take us long to reach the top deck, and when we did Kat was already sending out his first pokemon. He stood, smirking, beside a Pidgeot. I assumed, based on his first pokemon, that his team was made up of either Kanto or Johto pokemon, and I was to compete against him with my team of Sinnoh and Unova pokemon. Thinking for a moment, I pulled a pokeball off of my belt, which was concealed by the tail of my shirt.

From the pokeball emerged Luxray, whose fur sparked when he saw that there was a battle before us. "No substitutions," Kat added. I quirked an eyebrow, wondering if he realized that he was at a blatant type disadvantage, but I nodded anyway.

"All right. That's fine with me. Now, let's begin... Ladies first." I gestured for Kat to go on ahead and command his pokemon, smirking as he scowled, his face reddening for the thousandth time.

"Don't get smart, Butch. Pidgeot, wing attack!" Kat obviously wasted no time in getting down to business. The sign of a hasty battler? I couldn't tell just yet.

"Luxray, dodge and use thunder fang!" I commanded, my hand already balling up into a fist. Pidgeot came on strong, showing its significant speed advantage, which was something I wasn't keen on competing against. Luxray crouched, before pouncing out of the way, looping around to leap up in the air. His teeth sparked as he tried to get at Pidgeot's hind end, or at least one of his feet, but he couldn't quite jump that high. Luxray fell back to the deck, landing on four paws, his eyes following the sky-bound bird.

"Pidgeot, use quick attack!" Kat ordered. Within less than a moment's notice, Pidgeot was gliding around, flying at breakneck pace towards Luxray.

"Protect!" I hardly had the time to give the command, but Luxray's shield was up in the nick of time. Pidgeot slammed into the force field blocking him from hitting the electric type pokemon, and after pecking at it for a moment, he doubled back to hover near his trainer. "Now, Luxray, thunderbolt!" Luxray growled fiercely as the bright bolt of electricity shot forward.

"Dodge it!" Kat shouted. Before Pidgeot could escape, the attacked connected. The bird pokemon cried out in pain, faltering for a moment, before dropping to the deck. One wing sagged slightly, but he opened one eye, his breathing ragged. Kat's knuckles were white as he stared down at his pokemon. "Pidgeot! Get up! You can't let a weak attack like that get to you!"

"Weak?" I snorted under my breath. Luxray snarled, crouching again. He waited for the next command, but I was waiting to see what Kat would do. Pidgeot's movement was heavy at first, yet he still rose up, hovering in the air again, an even more determined look on his face than before. I noted that Pidgeot's own determination was reflected in the face of Kat.

"Air slash!"

"Thunderbolt!"

Pidgeot raced forward as the fur on Luxray's back stood straight up, crackling violently. The bright electric light shot forward, but Pidgeot swerved out of the way, coming down hard on Luxray with air slash. The electric type skidded backwards, stumbling from the blow and over his own unsteady paws. He hit the deck, stopping at my feet. "Get up, get up, _get up_!" I ordered, panicking. I didn't want Kat to have the upper hand.

Kat smirked, looking up to his Pidgeot. "Well done! Now, quick attack!" Luxray was only just starting to get back to his feet as Pidgeot came barreling forward at full speed. Only then did I realize that I shouldn't have waited to see what Kat would do, as now I was at a clear disadvantage.

"Luxray! Thunder fang!" I shouted, stepping back a bit in an attempt to avoid Pidgeot. Luxray wasn't even on his feet when the bird slammed into him, and unfortunately, slammed into me. I shouted out of surprise, hitting the deck as my pokemon had. I sat there for a moment, shocked out of my wits, only watching as Pidgeot flew back to Kat. However, the shock didn't last, merely being replaced by anger, anger which boiled up and spilled over. "Luxray! GET. UP!" I scrambled to my feet, followed suit by Luxray. He was battered a little now, but not enough to stop us from battling. My anger was reflected in his eyes as he turned, his body sparking all over.

"Pidgeot! Hurricane!"

"Thunder, now!" I exclaimed, both fists balling up tightly.

Luxray was electrified as he snarled fiercely, a streak of lightning striking Pidgeot down in one fell swoop. The wind produced by hurricane blew Luxray's already-messy fur around, blowing him back, but since the move wasn't completed he made it out relatively unscathed. Luxray's breathing was heavy; however, I waited with baited breath to see if this fight with Pidgeot would continue on.

Pidgeot tried to get back up, and he tried with whatever strength he had left. Unfortunately for Kat, Pidgeot collapsed into a heap on the deck, fainted from the attack. Kat shook his head out of frustration, before recalling his pokemon. "Nice work, Pidgeot. It should be easy to take out Luxray now... Let's go, Sandslash!" Luxray growled out of obvious annoyance.

"Now I understand why you instigated the no substitutions rule..." I commented, folding my arms. "All right, Luxray. We can handle this."

"Lux, luxray..." he grunted, glancing back at me. I could see the exhaustion starting to set in, but he sparked his fur and raised his tail to try and shake it off.

Kat smirked. "Now you're _definitely _at a disadvantage."

"No need to remind me," I retorted, glaring back at him.

He merely laughed, a new, fresh twinkle of determination in his eyes. "No need to be so sour, Butch. Sandslash! Dig!"

_Why not go straight to earthquake to get this over with? _I thought to myself. "Luxray, watch out for him." I wondered how thick this deck floor really was, and if the people below us could hear or see Sandslash at all. Apparently it was rather thick, as Sandslash was able to tear his way through it like a groundhog. Luxray tried to stomp on him, snarling and growling furiously. "Watch it, Luxray. You don't know what Kat might have him do..." Luxray snorted, trying to get at Sandslash as if the spiky-backed pokemon was only just a young Rattata. "Watch it," I warned, my tone growing more firm, despite the fact that I knew it would do no good.

This game of cat and mouse went on for a few minutes longer, until finally Sandslash shot up from underneath the deck, slamming into Luxray hard. Luxray was thrown backwards like a rag doll, his body hitting the hard surface beneath our feet with a rather sickening thud. He lay there for a moment as Kat crossed his arms over his chest, nodding towards Sandslash. "Earthquake."

My eyes widened as I immediately braced myself for the shaking by dropping down onto one knee, palming the floor with both hands. Sandslash crouched, placing his own claws down on the deck. There was complete silence aside from Luxray's struggling for only a moment, but when the shaking began, it was more violent than I had expected. "Luxray!" I shouted, looking over to my pokemon. _Don't faint, please, don't faint... Not yet. _Within the nine seconds that the shaking lasted, I was sure the whole boat was being shaken, right down to the core. It made me wonder if we would get into some kind of trouble for this, but we _were _trainers, after all. Damage control was expected to be done after messy battles like this one, right?

Luxray didn't move; instead, he lay there in a limp heap. I hesitated, before standing, my legs feeling a little wobbly from the high-powered ground attack. Sandslash bounded back over to sit at Kat's feet, receiving an affectionate and praise-filled pat on the snout. I recalled Luxray to his pokeball, looking over at Kat and Sandslash. "Okay, so we're even now. Five pokemon left each."

As I said this, spectators who had been obviously shaken by the earthquake inched a little closer, interested to see where the battle would go from here. A few surprised, shouting people ran up from below the deck, their eyes widening when they saw the torn up wood that Sandslash had destroyed when he used dig. "Whoa..." and "Holy crap, look at this! Come look at this!" filled the air around us, squeezing in beside the tension between Kat and myself.

"Five pokemon left," Kat replied with a nod. He glanced around at the crowd that was forming. "It looks like we have an audience waiting for the next battle... Let's go, Butch."

The eager faces of the spectators turned their attention to me, so I nodded back to Kat, scanning my eyes over the crowd afterward. "All right, Kat." I pulled another pokeball from my belt after placing Luxray's back in its rightful spot. "Let's go, Empoleon!"

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><p><strong>Review and tell me what you thought! Hopefully this chapter was better than the last! <strong>

**~Peaches**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to Blue-Cookies44 for alerting to this story! Anyways, here's the third chapter. I hope it's okay! **

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><p>"You're still at a disadvantage!" Kat remarked as Sandslash readied himself. "Empoleon is a dual type, remember? Water <em>and <em>steel."

"I know," I replied, "but I have the upper hand here, I believe."

"Believe what you will," Kat said with a smirk. "Sandslash, earth-"

"Aqua jet, now!" I exclaimed, cutting him off, knowing that if aqua jet struck first (and it was sure to, wasn't it?) that the tide of battle would turn in my favor. Sandslash heard half of the command, crouching down once again, but Empoleon slammed directly into him, surrounded by the jet of water. Sandslash was tossed backwards, crying out in a mixture of surprise and pain. Kat tried to hide his bewildered expression as he gave the next command.

"Sandslash, get up! Use double team!" he ordered, fists clenched yet again.

"Empoleon, aqua jet, again!" I countered, shouting out of excitement.

Kat cursed under his breath, his eyes fiery as he looked to Sandslash. "Dodge it, then double team!" Empoleon shot forward, targeting the still-vulnerable ground type pokemon. Sandslash heaved himself up and scampered out of the way, leaving Empoleon enraged and a little bewildered. Sandslash let out a sharp cry as he put double team to good use, encircling Empoleon with perfect copies of himself.

My brow furrowed as I tried to find a way out for my pokemon, but none came to mind. He would have to try and find the real Sandslash, or at least fight them all off. "All right, swagger!" Empoleon drew in his breath, making himself look bigger as he puffed out his chest. The moonlight glinted off of the trident on his head, sending the multiple copies of Sandslash (and the real one, whichever one that might have been) into a frenzy.

The move ultimately backfired on us, as even though the Sandslash were in a confused state, their attack had risen sharply. They all pounced on Empoleon; in the chaos I heard Kat shout, "Brick break, Sandslash!" Each brick break that ensued dealt more damage than the last, until Empoleon was finally thrown backwards roughly. He skidded across the deck, collapsing in a heap.

"No, Empoleon! Get up, now!" I exclaimed, my eyes darting between my own pokemon and Kat's. Empoleon struggled for a moment, and exactly like Luxray's vulnerability, Kat took total advantage of it.

"Dig!" All of the Sandslash dove back into the deck floor, burrowing their way around beneath our feet. A few of the spectators shouted out of surprise, their eyes following whichever Sandslash was closest to them. Kat was grinning from ear to ear, apparently feeling so comfortable that he folded his arms, relaxing his stance. I, on the other hand, tensed up.

Empoleon climbed to his feet, searching for the hidden Sandslash. _How can I help him? There has to be some way to flush out the real Sandslash and do enough damage at the same time, _I thought to myself, gritting my teeth. Someone from the crowd shouted my name, before shouting out to Empoleon. The penguin pokemon turned his gaze to me, waiting for the next command.

"All right, Empoleon, flush Sandslash out with surf!" I ordered, pointing to the holes in which the Sandslash had all used to burrow beneath the surface of the deck. Empoleon nodded once, before puffing out his chest again. He raised his flippers slightly, bringing a tide of water over the side of the ship. Said tide was just the monster spawn of the ocean that I was afraid of, but I needed Empoleon to do this to flush out Sandslash. People by the railing fled towards the middle of the deck, packing themselves into one large mass of onlookers.

Empoleon brought his flippers down forcefully, sending the wave crashing down on all of us. We were doused thoroughly, soaking us all to the core; however, the move did the trick, and the real Sandslash came sputtering to the surface of the deck, barely holding on to consciousness. The excess water spilled over the side of the ship and down the steps, startling the other people who were rushing up from below deck, having heard the wave crash down on the ship's deck.

Sandslash staggered, before collapsing in a puddle of water. Someone pushed through the crowd, coming to stand at the side of our makeshift battle field. Assuming the position of referee, he said with a sturdy voice, "Sandslash is unable to battle! Empoleon is the winner!" Kat recalled Sandslash, before pulling another pokeball off of his belt. Back and forth, back and forth. I guessed that Kat and I were evenly matched, especially since his Sandslash put up a fight like that against Empoleon.

Kat tossed the pokeball up in the air, watching as his next pokemon appeared on the deck. Empoleon and I both sweatdropped as Meganium came to stand before us, bending her head affectionately to her trainer. Kat smiled, rubbing her nose, causing her antenna to perk up noticeably. "Mega, meganium," she chirped, turning to face Empoleon.

"You're so screwed," someone muttered from the front of the crowd, shaking his head.

I sighed in exasperation. Back and forth, back and forth... Empoleon looked back at me, his pride getting the best of him again. He must have been thinking the same thing that I was, because as soon as I opened my mouth to give the command, he was already preparing the attack - the only attack that would really save us here. "Drill peck!" I commanded, wasting no more time than I had already.

"Magical leaf!" Kat ordered, pointing. Meganium had a sort of serene smile on her face, obviously unafraid of Empoleon. She sent the leaves shooting forward, watching them slice through the air towards the penguin pokemon. Empoleon shot forward as well, determined not to lose this fight. I crossed my fingers, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst...

Lady Luck wasn't on my side tonight. Magical leaf connected with Empoleon, disorienting him, sending him backwards. "Drill peck!" I commanded again. "Don't let a wimpy little magical leaf stop you! You've tackled Torterra before, for Arceus' sake! Come on!" Empoleon shook his head, before bolting forward again, spinning towards Meganium.

Kat shook his head. "Magical leaf, again! Then use grass knot!" Meganium repeated the earlier process, and again Empoleon was disoriented, stopped in his tracks. Kat smiled and made a sweeping motion with his hand; a moment later, grass was gnarling itself around Empoleon's feet. The grass worked itself up and around Empoleon, and after getting a tight hold around him, it jerked him to the deck.

The grass released itself and disappeared as I took a step forward. "Empoleon! Let's go!" He struggled to get to his feet, but to my great disdain, he fell back down and didn't rise back up. I covered my face with one hand, sighing. My water type was my most trusted pokemon, and he was down and out for the count.

"Empoleon is unable to battle! Meganium is the winner!" the referee announced, gesturing to each of our pokemon in turn. Kat's smirk had returned as he patted Meganium's side, praising her graciously. _She beat the crap out of Empoleon and didn't even come out of it with a scratch. She didn't even have to get close to Empoleon... _I shook my head, recalling Empoleon to his pokeball.

My hand shifted to my pokeball belt as I placed his pokeball back in its rightful place, but I wondered which pokemon to send out next. I did have a flying type, yet judging based on what Kat had already done, and what I had already done, he would just send out a pokemon that could counter my flying type. That wasn't something I wanted, plus I needed a way to shake the battle up. I needed to gain the upper hand and _keep _the upper hand.

Meganium, however, posed a threat in my mind, so I sent out Mothim. Meganium still didn't seem fazed, as if she was blissfully unaware of the type disadvantage she faced. Kat, on the other side of the coin, was well aware of it. "Mothim, use aerial ace!"

"Protect!" he countered, his eyes flashing.

I cursed under my breath, only able to watch as Mothim's aerial ace did nothing. Kat looked relieved; Meganium retained the same serene expression. Mothim doubled back, flying back to hover in front of me. He was almost back to my end of the deck when a rather sharp voice interrupted our battle. "Hey! What do you think you two are doing?" Meganium turned her head, her countenance now curious. Kat's flushed face turned in the direction of the voice, as did mine. My first guess told me that it was the captain of the ship.

Unfortunately for us, that's just who it was.

His face was red with anger as he pushed through the crowd, shoving anyone and everyone who got in his way aside. "You're tearing up the deck and rocking the ship! You're lucky we haven't been knocked off course." I quirked an eyebrow, thinking to myself that maybe the captain was overreacting a little bit.

Kat snorted. "So we can't battle?"

"Not if you're going to go and tear up the deck!" the captain snapped, raising his voice.

"In my defense, that was Sandslash," I spoke up, pointing at Kat. His jaw dropped as he turned to look at me.

"Butch!"

"What? It's not my fault you let Sandslash tear up the deck," I retorted, feeling a little low for ratting him out like that. Turning to the captain, I added, "But the rocking the ship thing was my fault. Er, yeah. My fault. That was Empoleon's surf..."

"I don't care who did what!" the captain shouted. "Get your pokemon to the infirmary, and then stay off the top deck from now on! Don't make me kick you off the ship, and don't think I won't do it." I nodded, recalling Mothim to his pokeball, before bolting for the still damp stairs. Kat gritted his teeth together, unwilling to move, so I turned back around, stopping on the top step.

"Kat, come on... Don't start anything," I advised, shaking my head.

"I don't need you telling me what to do," Kat snapped, but after seeing that the captain very well might throw him overboard, he recalled Meganium. With one last rueful glance in the captain's direction, he turned on his heels sharply and followed me down to the infirmary. "Thanks a lot," he muttered under his breath.

"Hey, at least I took the blame for part of it," I responded defensively. "Don't hold it against me." Kat merely snorted.

"Are you always that way? Saving your own skin?" he grumbled, looking away.

"For Arceus' sake, would you let it go?" I replied, raising my voice for added effect.

Kat turned to look at me, his auburn eyes fierce. "That's not the way it works, Butch. You're supposed to keep quiet, and then I'll do the same for you. I thought you'd know that, but apparently I was wrong." I quieted down, looking away as I crossed my arms. Feeling a mixture of embarrassment, guilt, and stupidity, I didn't say much else on the way to the infirmary.

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><p><strong>Review and tell me what you thought, please! Hopefully I'll have another chapter up later tonight. <strong>

**~Peaches**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to Oxenstierna D. Yuki-Rin, MapleRain, Zangoose-Kira, and RWR for the reviews, faves, and alerts! Here's the fourth chapter! **

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><p>"Here, Nurse Joy," I said, handing over Luxray and Empoleon's pokeballs. Kat stood behind me, looking down at the floor with a soured expression. I wondered if that was because of me, or if it was because of the captain, but before I could ask Nurse Joy was telling me when I should come back to pick my pokemon up. "What? What time?" I asked, confused. I would have to start paying better attention.<p>

She smiled that effervescent, lasting smile of hers. "How about just before lunch?"

"Uh, yeah, that sounds good," I responded with a nod. Kat stepped up to the counter, performing the same process I had, except he paid attention to what Nurse Joy told him the _first time_ she told him. She gave him the same time frame that she had given me, and after Kat seemed sure that his pokemon were in good hands, he turned, making his way to the door lickity-split. "Yo, Kat! Wait up!"

I chased after him, remembering the inquiring thought that had distracted me from Nurse Joy's words. "Why should I?" Kat muttered, not slowing down or turning around. I caught up to him, slowing myself to match his now-brisk pace. "I'm going down to my room to get some shut eye."

"Well, I have a question," I replied quickly, not wanting him to get away before I could ask.

Kat shot me an annoyed glance. "I don't think I have an answer."

"Humor me here."

"Give me one good reason."

"We're bound to be working together later on, so shouldn't we at least be clear on this one thing?"

He sighed deliberately, gritting his teeth. "Fine. What's the question?"

"Is it me giving you grief? Or were you bothered by the captain's reaction to our battle? You looked aggravated in the infirmary."

Kat laughed, but it was hollow and rather dry. "You haven't ceased to give me grief since I met you, but truthfully it was both you _and _the captain's reaction that bothered me."

"All right," I mumbled, face reddening again. "I supposed I'd better hit the sack, too."

"Probably."

"Yeah..." Seeing that I wasn't going to get much else out of Kat, I headed for my room, leaving him to find his. It took me a minute to dig the key out of my pocket as I walked, and it took me even longer to get the key into the slot right. "Come on, seriously..." I jammed it into the slot, staring intently at the two lights on the silver base of the handle. Nothing happened; the light remained red. Sweatdropping, I slid the key in less firmly, keeping my eyes on the lights. Still red.

"Are you really that big of an idiot?" Kat snapped, coming up behind me. My face flushed again as I whirled around, dropping my key by mistake.

"No!" I retorted, lowering my eyes quickly. "I'm just not very good with these room keys and the door locks..." Kat rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as I reached down to pick up my key. I started to turn around again, but he reached out, holding the palm of one of his meaty paws face up. Understanding what he wanted, but rather annoyed and surprised, I placed the key in his hand, stepping aside. "If you know how to turn the little light green, please, be my guest."

"You're so stupid, Butch."

My only comeback was: "Shut up!"

Within one slide, Kat had the green light glowing and the door open. He handed me back my room key, donning an annoyed expression. "There. Now don't bother me anymore, would you?"

"I didn't ask you to do that for me!" I retorted, pushing past him as I entered my room. "You just walked up behind me and offered to take care of it."

"Still. Don't bother me anymore."

"Fine," I grumbled, turning on the light, before going back over to the door. "Good night."

"Meh." Kat shrugged his broad shoulders, spinning around and walking back to his room. I watched him go, just to find out where his room was. It was a couple doors down from mine, and after watching him enter his room I was starting to feel like a creeper, so I shut my own door and sighed. I undid my pokeball belt, setting it on the bathroom counter. I pulled the remaining four balls off of the belt, sending out the pokemon so that they could sleep on the bed, something they were fond of doing.

Krookodile (whom I referred to as Lansky, as 'Krookodile' was such a mouthful and a name I often got confused with the name of his prior evolution) immediately trotted over to the bed, climbing on and occupying one entire side of it. Mothim occupied himself with the lamp at the end of the room, infatuated with the bright light. Cinccino looked up at me with her large eyes from her spot on the floor, so I hoisted her into my arms. She was less of a battler and more just the baby of my party.

Lastly, there was... Deino. Who just so happened to be banging his blind face against the wall, and the paint was being chipped off because he was also trying to _bite _the wall. I sighed, returning him to his pokeball. I hardly trusted the little creature, especially since I had just caught him before I left for this trip. Two pokemon with Nurse Joy, one in his pokeball, and the other three in the room with me.

Feeling assured because I knew where they were and could account for them all, I set Cinccino on the counter by my pokeball belt. "I have to change," I informed her, grabbing my suitcase and unzippering it. I rummaged through it, feeling Cinccino's fur on the back of my neck as she slid down to sit beside me, using my head as her first stepping stone. After pulling out a pair of baggy pajama pants and some random t-shirt, I changed, zippered up my suitcase, and picked Cinccino up again.

"Cin, cin, cin..." She yawned, curling up in a little ball in my arms.

"I'm tired, too, Cinccino." I carried her over to the bed, feeling the effects of the day kicking me in the backside. My fear of water certainly didn't help things - the only thing it helped was getting me to sleep. Worry after worry tended to take its toll on a person after a while, after all. Lansky was already half-asleep, his eyes closing and popping back open. His heavy tail flicked back and forth, searching for a cool spot on the bed sheets. I smiled slightly to myself. That was something I would do with my feet - move them around to find a cool spot on the bed sheets. I found it amusing and very pleasing to see how trainers could affect their pokemon, and vice versa.

I slid onto the bed beside Lansky, glancing over at him. Many people, despite how dedicated to their pokemon they were, would think I was nuts for letting a pokemon like Lansky sleep in the same bed as I do, but I trusted him. I had been with him for a very long time now, and he'd slept beside me many times in the past, while we were camping, while we were at friends' houses - it didn't really seem to matter. "I trust you, Lansky," I remarked, feeling a little stupid. He merely snorted, and a few moments after, his heavy snoring was heard. I rolled my eyes, turning my attention to the television.

"Maybe they broadcast from Unova...?" I wondered aloud, holding Cinccino in one arm, who was now as fast asleep as Lansky. I flipped on the television; however, I didn't even get the chance to surf the channels, as there was a knock at the door. I glanced at the clock, finding that it was 1:30 a.m. "Who could that be? Oh, wait, I bet it's Kat," I mused, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

Even though I trusted Lansky with _my _own life, I didn't necessarily trust him with Cinccino's. Plus, he could roll over and accidentally crush her, couldn't he? Well, I wasn't about to take any chances. I set Cinccino on the chair in the corner of the room, before moving for the door with Mothim at my shoulder. Stretching up on tippy-toe, I looked through the peep hole.

A blonde girl with big brown eyes was on the other side of the door... Trudy! I unlatched the door and opened it up to her. "Yes?"

"Would it be all right if I slept in here tonight? I could sleep on the chair, if you needed me to," she answered.

I quirked an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. "Why do you need to sleep here, though? You can; I'm just curious." I stepped aside so that a pajama-clad Trudy could walk into the room. She looked around, surveying everything with a seemingly keen eye. I waited for a response with impatience. "Trudy?"

"Pardon me," she replied, shaking her head. Her blonde, bob-cut hair swung back and forth across her face as she shook her head. "Sherri has multiple personality disorder, and unfortunately for me, only one of her personalities likes me. We both hail from Veilstone City, so naturally we asked for a room together so that we could get to know each other... I suppose that wasn't a smart choice on my part, especially since I hadn't known that her other personalities wouldn't tolerate me."

Wow. Sherri was right. Trudy _was _a brainiac. I mean, she just sounded like a really smart chick. "Sherri has multiple personality disorder?"

"Yes. I didn't know at first, so don't feel too bad."

"All righty then. Well, I doubt you'll want to sleep on the bed with Lansky, but I can make him move if you do want the bed."

"Lansky...? You mean the Krookodile...?"

"Yeah. Krookodile's a mouthful, so I gave him a nickname."

Trudy nodded. "Interesting. No, no, it's quite all right. I can sleep on the chair." She turned her gaze to the chair in the corner of the room, her brow furrowing. "Unless Cinccino is taking up the chair."

"No, Cinccino sleeps in the bed with Lansky and me," I explained, walking past her to reach the chair. I picked Cinccino up, cradling her in my arms, before gesturing to the chair with one hand. "You sure you don't want the bed? Lansky can move..."

The blonde waved her hand dismissively. "No, no. It's fine, uh... I don't believe we've met formally. Of course, you know my name to be Trudy, but I don't know your name."

"You can call me Butch," I offered, shrugging. Trudy's slender, platinum blonde eyebrows rose.

"Really? That isn't your real name, I'm assuming." I shook my head.

"It isn't." I sat back down on the bed. "Would you mind turning off the lamp? Mothim won't get any rest if it stays on." Mothim had returned to his earlier task of staring at the light, and trying to get at it, even though the lamp shade was continuously preventing him from getting any closer to it than he already was.

"Not a problem." Trudy headed over to the lamp, twisted the thin little knob on the side, and looked satisfied when Mothim retreated to the other side of the room, his apparent infatuation disappearing in the blink of an eye. She turned on her dainty little heels and approached the chair, before taking a seat. "Do you have any extra blankets?"

I looked around, letting my eyes fall on the dresser that was beneath the television. "There are a few in the bottom drawer," I told her, pointing out the specific dresser. She nodded, rose from her seat, retrieved a few, and came back to her seat. After flopping down, she huddled under the covers, sighing happily. "Nice and toasty?"

"Yes, very much so," Trudy answered, her voice muffled slightly by all of the blankets. "Thank you, uh... Butch."

"It's cool." We fell silent for a little while as I surfed for a channel that broadcasted Unova shows. I assumed that Trudy had fallen asleep, but I was proven wrong when she spoke a little while later.

"Butch?"

"Yeah?"

"Would it be all right if we talked for a little while? There's something on my mind I've been mulling over."

"Sure." I turned the volume down to about three, before tossing the remote aside and looking over to Trudy. "What's on your mind?"

Trudy sat up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked back at me, her face thoughtful. She began by saying, "Well, don't you find it a little odd that we have to travel to Hoenn? Why couldn't they have just chosen five people from each region and had them remain there to train under their home region's Elite Four and Champion? I mean, I think I should have stayed in Sinnoh and trained under Lucian... Or someone else, of course... But you understand, don't you?"

"Yeah. Why couldn't we have just stayed in Sinnoh and trained there, basically."

"Correct."

I stared up at the ceiling, wracking my brain for an answer. "Maybe they wanted to mix things up and make it interesting."

"Maybe so, but if we're supposed to be representing the region we train in, shouldn't natives represent that region? Instead of foreigners," Trudy argued.

"You have a point, but I suppose we just won't know until we get there." However, I couldn't leave it at that. "Okay, so you have a completely valid point. Maybe they want to educate us about the way other regions work? That still doesn't answer the question as to why use us to represent Hoenn."

Trudy nodded, looking down at her hands, which were folded neatly in her lap, resting on the comforter over top of her. "Who do you think you'll train under?"

"I don't know, really. There's Glacia, Phoebe, Sidney, Drake... And then Wallace, of course."

"Who do you _want _to train under?"

"Eh. I don't know a whole lot about Hoenn's Elite Four and Champion, so I'm not particularly sure."

"Sidney is the first of the Elite Four; he trains dark types. Phoebe is second; she trains ghost types, while Glacia is third and Drake is fourth. They train ice and dragon types, respectively. Wallace is a master water type trainer," she explained. "I really prefer Lucian from Sinnoh over all of them, but..." She blushed slightly. "I think I want to be trained by Wallace. His demeanor has always intrigued me."

I laughed slightly. "I could use Drake's assistance in training Deino... Of course, then Sidney could help me with that."

"Drake frightens me. Sidney... Seems disturbed."

I sat up straighter, holding Cinccino in both arms in my lap. "Why do you say that?"

"Sidney just _looks _disturbed. Plus he uses dark types, and most dark type trainers are relatively...creepy."

"In your opinion. I have two dark types on my team," I retorted.

"But you're odd, in your own way," Trudy countered. "Do you see my point? Who knows. Maybe you and Sidney would work well together."

"The more you talk about him, the more I'm beginning to hope that he'll be my teacher."

Trudy shook her head, smiling slightly. "You really are insane. He's a punk, be warned."

"So? As long as he's not deranged or anything, I'm down with that."

"I'm truly convinced that you're insane now." She grinned, one eyebrow arching slightly. "Good night, Butch, and thank you for talking with me."

A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth as well. "Good night, and yeah, it's fine. If you ever need to talk again, I'm here."

"Thank you." She turned over, huddling beneath the covers again.

However, her words stuck in my head, and I fell asleep thinking about the following day, when we would finally arrive in Hoenn...

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><p><strong>Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far! I appreciate every review I get. <strong>

**~Peaches**


	5. Chapter 5

**Oi, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! This chapter was more or less a filler, with a few important bits here and there. **

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><p>Later that morning, I found myself sitting in one of the various cafes aboard the ship, my eyes plastered to a computer screen. I hadn't even bothered to change out of my pajamas, nor had I bothered to wake any of my pokemon up, aside from Cinccino. She was sitting on a stool beside the chair I was occupying, eating a few oran berries from a small paper cup in front of her.<p>

I hit the back button, sighing in exasperation. "There's hardly anything about Sidney on these websites... Basically just reviews of his battles in the Pokemon League," I remarked to myself, glancing over at Cinccino. She offered me an oran berry. "No thanks. I'm not a big fan of berries." She merely nibbled on the oran berry herself, focusing on that instead of on what I was throwing myself into. "I've been looking for an hour..." I took a sip of my coffee, going over what I had learned so far in my head.

All I knew, really, was that Sidney was a master dark type trainer, and that he loved his job, even if he lost. An hour's worth of work amounted to that, and one of those two things I had learned last night from Trudy, who claimed that I was insane. Go figure. I scratched my head, before closing out of the internet window. "Cin, cin..." She sounded a little disappointed.

"Come on, Cinccino. I slept in late, and it's almost noon. I'll be late picking up my pokemon, if we don't hurry," I commented, scooping her up and into my arms. She had her cup of oran berries securely in hand, and I had my half-full coffee cup, so we started off for my room. And then the idea struck me that I could surely pick up my pokemon in my pajamas. There was no harm in that, was there? No! Of course not.

I detoured, heading for the infirmary. Trudy's words came back to me again, her question especially. I had already been nervous about this entire thing, but now I was excited, too, fo find out who my teacher would be and why foreigners were chosen over natives to represent Hoenn. My thoughts went here and there as I shuffled into the infirmary, gaining a smile from Nurse Joy. She was just handing Kat back his pokemon; speaking of Kat, he looked just the same as he had the day before, aside from the fact that his suspenders were blue instead of green this time.

"Good morning," Nurse Joy greeted, causing Kat to glance over his shoulder. He snorted, before doing a double take.

"... Why are you wearing pajamas?"

"I didn't have time to change," I answered, approaching the counter. "Good morning, Nurse Joy."

"Your pokemon should be feeling much better today," she told me, handing me back two pokeballs. I thanked her, turning and latching the two pokeballs onto my belt. Despite the fact that I was indeed still wearing pajamas, I did have my pokeball belt. This was on account of Deino; he needed to stay in his pokeball and I was afraid that Lansky might try to mess with it, so I kept it with me.

Cinccino offered Kat an oran berry. "Cin, cin, cinccino~" She leaned towards him, sticking out her stubby little paw. I glanced over at her, wondering if the Cute Charm ability could work on people, too. Kat stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head.

"N-no, that's okay. You keep it," he stammered, cheeks flushing a bright pink. Cinccino looked upset, only shaking her head and offering it to him again. Kat hesitated, reaching out to hold his palm face up.

"Cin, cin!" she cooed, placing it in his palm gently. She curled his fingers around it with eager little paws, pulling back to look up at him with sparkly brown eyes. "Cin, cin, cin!" I assumed that this was her invitation for him to eat it, and stifling my amused laughter I turned my head towards Nurse Joy. "Cin..." She waited patiently, never taking her eyes off of Kat.

"Do.. Do you want me to eat it?"

"Cin!"

"All right," he said with a sigh, dropping his eyes to the berry. Hesitation followed.

"Cinccino is waiting, Kat..." I informed him, grinning at his embarrassment.

"Oh, shut it," he snapped, shooting me a glare. He popped the oran berry into his mouth, smiling for Cinccino's sake. I'd say it was worth it, because her entire face lit up like a little kid's face does on Christmas day. She clapped her little paws together happily. "It's very tasty. Thank you." She nodded, before returning to her cup, nibbling on a berry of her own. "Thank you, Nurse Joy." He cleared his throat, face still red. "I'll be going now." With that, he scampered to the entrance, disappearing out the door in a flash.

Nurse Joy smiled again. "Kat really is a very nice boy."

I couldn't help but snort. "I beg to differ."

A look of confusion crossed Nurse Joy's face as she frowned. "What do you mean?"

"We haven't been on good terms as of late," I replied, shaking my head.

"Oh. That's too bad, then. He's a polite young man," she commented, her smile returning. "Have a nice day now!" I nodded, offering her a smile in return, before heading for the door. _He's really got you fooled, Nurse Joy... Unless he's just always aggravated with me. I wonder... _Cinccino seemed to agree with Nurse Joy, but I wouldn't ruin her good mood just for something as trivial as Kat's bad attitude.

I returned to my room, sliding the key into the slot. Red. Not green. I hated to do this, but if I wanted to get into my room to change and pack up my belongings, I didn't have much else of a choice. However, to make it easier, I decided to have Cinccino take care of it. "Cinccino," I started, setting her on the floor. "Could you go and get Kat for me? I need his help getting my door open." Cinccino nodded, handing me her cup of berries. She turned tail, trotting down the hall. "Right there!" I called down to her when she reached his room. She knocked on the door with both paws, beating on it like a drum.

A few moments later, the door opened and Kat appeared. He looked down - was that his face flushing again? - and, seeing that it was Cinccino, took on a polite air. "Hey there... Do you need something?" To my surprise, it seemed like genuine politeness. Cinccino tugged on his pant leg, trying to pull him out of his room. Kat followed her willingly, rolling his eyes as he approached. "You can't get into your room again."

"That would be the issue here."

Cinccino let his pant leg go so that she could take her place in my arms again. I held out my room key as the fluff ball in my arms took back her berry cup. Kat sighed deliberately, taking the room key from my hand and repeating the process from last night. When the door had been opened and my key had been returned to me, I entered the room, finding that Lansky and Mothim were still out like lights.

"Get up, guys. It's time to pack." Mothim was up a moment after my words had been uttered. I opened the glass doors that led to the balcony so that he could get some fresh air, along with Cinccino. She slid out of my arms, leaving her cup on the floor at my feet. I picked it up, emptying it into a sack of berries that I carried around with us. "Lansky, get up..."

Lansky merely rolled over, falling right back to sleep (that is, if he had ever even been awake in the first place). "Screw it." I sighed, sending out Empoleon and Luxray. They stretched their stiff muscles, heading out to the balcony with Cinccino and Mothim. I left Lansky in the bed, going over to my suitcase to fish out some clothes to wear that day. I would leave my pajamas out for later.

As I was doing all of this, I thought about Snowpoint City, my hometown. Well, really, I had three places I could easily call home, but I was born in Snowpoint. "Maybe I should call Mom later," I thought aloud. I finished getting my clothes together, and moved onto making sure that everything else was packed up in my suitcase. I changed attire, strapped on my pokeball belt, and set my suitcase up against the wall. "Looks like I'm ready to go."

I recalled my pokemon to their pokeballs, deciding it would be nice to go get a drink before another party started up again. I left my room, checked my poketch on the fly, and made my way up to the bar. I needed a way to pass the time, and since battling didn't seem like a viable option anymore, and I wasn't allowed on the top deck, what else was I supposed to do?

On my way up, I ran into a crew member of the ship. At first he passed me by, but a moment later he had come up behind me, tapping my shoulder. "The captain wants to see you in his office," he stated, his tone matter-of-fact. I could feel the color drain from my face as he led me up to the captain's office. All I could do at that point was cross my fingers and hope that Kat was going to get a lecture later, too.

To my relief, though, Kat was already in the captain's office. The crew member shuffled me in, before shuffling himself out. The door clicked closed and I took my seat in front of the captain's desk beside Kat. "Now that you're both here, I can start to explain..." I didn't listen after that. I was too busy trying to avert my gaze, too busy trying not to look embarrassed. Really, I wasn't ashamed, I was just humiliated that I was receiving a lecture from the captain himself. When I glanced over at Kat, he didn't look like he was listening either, as his eyes were trained on the floor.

I tried to look nonchalant, but that only made the captain glare at me, so I sat up straighter and tried to pay attention. "... Since you two ruined the deck, I believe a punishment is in order."

"We're not five years old," Kat muttered under his breath. I punched him in the arm in an attempt to get him to shut his mouth.

"Can it," I mumbled when the captain had turned his back for a moment. "You'll get us both in even more trouble."

Thankfully, Kat didn't get the opportunity to respond, as the captain turned back around to face us, apparently oblivious to Kat's words and my own. "If you two will recall, there was a party that went on last night on the level just below the deck." Oh, yeah. There was no way anyone could forget _that_ party. They were making so much noise that you could've heard them on the moon.

"That was a great party," Kat remarked, smiling ironically.

"I didn't go, but it was... Extremely loud, to say the least," I offered. I felt like a square in comparison to Kat. He seemed to be playing this cool... Maybe, for just this once, I should follow his lead.

The captain looked between the both of us, before his eyes settled on me. "The bartender saw you with that one." He gestured to Kat.

"Yeah, but I didn't stick around," I replied, glancing over at Kat. "The music wasn't that great anyway." I mentally face palmed. _Arceus, save me... _

"All right, then. Well, I've decided that, as punishment, you two will clean up the bar in which the party took place."

Kat retained his nonchalant look, something which I failed at doing. Satisfied that his judgment was stern, the captain sent us up to the bar, where we were given cleaning supplies and were put to work under the supervision of the captain. I sighed, bringing out Cinccino and Empoleon to help me. Kat, seeing that I was utilizing a water type to help me, must've decided to do the same, as he sent out Slowking.

"You have a Slowking?" I asked, seeming surprised.

"Obviously."

... I envied Kat.

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><p><strong>Phew. Chapter five, finished. Review and tell me what you thought, please. The next chapter will be introducing the Elite Four and Champion, finally! Yaay! <strong>

**~Peaches**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, faved, and alerted! I hope this chapter does all right! Enjoy! **

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><p>"Cinccino," I started, sitting down beside a bucket full of soapy water. "I think I'm going to catch a Sableye when we reach Hoenn." She scratched her ears, shaking her head, probably confused as to what Sableye even was. "It's a ghost type pokemon. Sableye is your size, and they like to play jokes on people." Cinccino's face lit up when I mentioned Sableye's size, making me grin.<p>

A few feet away, Kat snorted. "You do know that, as far as legend has it, if you look into Sableye's eyes, it'll steal your soul, right?" He was on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor where someone had thrown up the night before. We'd been working since lunch; despite the fact that it was now dark out and we were a short ways away from reaching our destination, we were still trying to clean that place up.

"That's legend, Kat," I replied, looking down at Cinccino again. "Don't worry about it. Sableye won't steal our souls." She looked doubtful, but turned back to her task of scrubbing the floor beside me anyway. Addressing Kat, I added, "Ask Trudy. She should know if that's just a legend or if there's any truth to it." Saying that reminded me of the rumors that were still circulating about Kat and his brother.

"Yeah, well. Trudy's a walking talking pokedex."

"Kat... What's your brother's name?" I inquired, standing back up as I took hold of the mop with both hands.

"Tjaden."

I paused. "That must be difficult to spell."

Kat sighed, scrubbing the spot on the floor a little harder now. "Most people spell and pronounce it wrong... We generally tell everyone to call him Jayden, because that's so much easier for people to remember, spell, and pronounce... I think he's a good guy, deep down inside, but he's just misunderstood! People never take the time to talk to him or to ask him if he's all right. I mean, it's always about what everyone else wants, which is why he gets so angry and acts like a pushy jerk most of the time... It's not his fault, it's not his fault!" I stared at Kat for a while, mopping absentmindedly. The spot he had been scrubbing was long gone by now, but he was still scrubbing away, his face red.

"Dude, you're going to scrub a hole in the floor."

"What do you mean? I'm trying to get this stain out!" he snapped, keeping his eyes on the floor. Slowking reached down to stop him from scrubbing anymore, seeing as the spot was now two shades lighter than what it had been originally.

"Don't get all bent out of shape," I advised, trading glances with Cinccino. Kat let out another pathetic-sounding sigh, rubbing his face with one wet hand.

"Cin, cin!" Cinccino's dark eyes sparkled with worry as she bounded away from me, heading for Kat. She skidded to a stop in front of him, trying not to slide on the slick spot, insanely clean spot. Cinccino put her paws on his knees, cocking her head to one side. "Cin, cin... Cin!" She pawed at his knee, trying to make him feel better. I watched her, stirring slightly. Jealousy? Or bittersweet happiness? Maybe both?

Kat reached down with his other hand to stroke her fur, touching her scarf-like tail. "It's so soft," he mumbled, more to himself I supposed.

"Yep. Cinccino's tail is also coated in an oil that repels enemy attacks," I explained.

"She would be great for contests. Wouldn't you, Cinccino?" Kat asked, seemingly forgetting his rant about Jayden. He scratched behind her ears affectionately, causing a low purring noise to bubble up from deep in her chest. I was becoming more and more convinced by the second that Cute Charm definitely worked on people, too. Slowking observed with keen eyes, rubbing his chin with a stubby pink hand.

"Come on, Kat. Let's finish. Cinccino!" I called, beckoning to her. She cooed at Kat, before bounding back over to help us finish cleaning up this side of the bar. Kat moved away from the spot he had been scrubbing earlier, now merely going around to double check everything, and making sure it was all as clean as a whistle. Cinccino and I finished mopping up just as Empoleon finished cleaning off the remaining tables at the back of the bar. "I think we're finished here."

Kat nodded, his face a little less sour than before, but that only lasted a moment. "We're finished... Don't go bothering my brother. Got it?"

"We're bound to come in contact with each other, since-"

"I don't care. Don't bother him. _Got it_?" Kat snapped. Empoleon tensed beside me, growling slightly.

"Don't think you can push me around," I retorted, glaring back at him.

"Whatever," Kat snorted, turning on his heels to stalk out of the bar. Slowking shot me a glance, following after his trainer with heavy steps.

"At least we're finished," I remarked with a sigh. Cinccino nodded, dropping the assorted rags into the bucket filled with soapy water. Empoleon, his countenance not daring to portray anything aside from anger, looked after Kat and Slowking as they exited the bar. "We'd better get this stuff put away. Then we'll go grab my suitcase and the berry pouch, since we're going to dock soon."

The three of us poured the soapy water down the drain of a sink and stowed the bucket and the rags in a maintenance closet, before heading back up to the room.

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><p>Cinccino looked at my poketch for about the twentieth time in less than five minutes. With a slight laugh, I shook my head. "Cinccino, relax. It's eleven o'clock. Don't worry about what time it is, because that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that we get off this wretched boat... Finally! Away from the sea!" I exclaimed, clasping my hands together. Cinccino smiled, looking down at the steps that would lead us onto dry land.<p>

I hadn't the slightest idea where the other four winners were. "Cin, cinccino." She looked away from the steps to glance over my shoulder, searching for Kat, most likely. "Cin, cin..."

"You don't see him?" I queried, starting to make my way down the steps along with the rest of the bustling crowd.

"Cin." She sounded rather disappointed.

"Sorry, Cinccino. I'm sure we'll meet up with him later," I reassured her, setting my suitcase on the ground first. "Anyway. Let's find out where we are." Wishing I had brought a duffel bag instead of a suitcase, I trekked towards the little building by the dock of sorts. Hopefully there would be a map inside, and to my great relief, there was. It was plastered to the wall just inside the entrance to the building.

The map of Hoenn wasn't too difficult to figure out. With one index finger I searched for an indicator of our current location, finding it a few moments later. 'Slateport City.' "Easy enough," I remarked. "The hard part is finding out where I'm supposed to go." Cinccino nodded her agreement, hiding her face in my shoulder with a slight yawn and an exhausted sigh. "Should we just start walking?"

"Cinccino..." Her eyelids drooped closed.

"Why don't you go to sleep, and I'll find out what we're supposed to do. Sound okay? Cinccino? Cinccino...? Nevermind." She was out like a light, so I merely kept a firm hold on her, reaching for my pokeball belt with my free hand. "I may need a little help navigating the streets. I need some assistance, Luxray..." I brought him out of his pokeball, receiving a slightly aggravated look. Luxray's eyes were full of disapproval for waking him up.

The two of us - with Cinccino in my arms, of course - started out of the small building by the sea, emerging to find that we were on the edge of the city. Beyond us lay a pokemon center, and beyond that was a marketplace. Luxray stretched his legs, flicking his tail back and forth as he did so. He yawned in a cat-like manner, waiting for me to do something or tell him to guide me somewhere, even though neither of us really had any idea of where we were supposed to be going.

"Okay. So maybe we should just walk." I started forward, followed closely by Luxray. A few people gave us funny looks as we passed, something I chocked up to the idea that maybe they weren't so used to seeing a Luxray walking around Slateport City. And after a while, the looks got to me, along with the fact that I still had no idea what I was really supposed to be doing. "This is the only problem with visiting other regions..."

"Butch!" The voice was familiar, so I turned to look for the owner. "Butch, wait up!" A breathless, excited-looking Trudy came bounding up to me.

"Thank Arceus you appeared! I'm completely and utterly lost," I told her.

"Me, too! But there's good news! Sherri knows where we're supposed to go!"

"That's great!" I grinned, feeling a little uplifted by this news. "Where is she, then?"

"You see... There _is_ some bad news... It's one of Sherri's other personalities that knows..."

"Which one...?" I questioned slowly, quirking an eyebrow.

_**5 minutes later... **_

"You've got to be frickin' kidding me." I watched as Sherri bounced around, her hair pulled up into a smart ponytail and her glasses nowhere to be found. The brunette was skipping between people, singing a song with such liveliness that I was sure Luxray would shock her in a heartbeat. "What happened to the shy, adorable Sherri?" I demanded, turning my gaze to the sweatdropping Trudy.

The blonde shrugged, shooting me a sheepish glance. "That's Sherri herself... But this is Candy."

"... Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"_Candy_? This is _Candy_?"

"Yes..."

"Is there something I should know about this Candy personality?" I asked, looking back to the now-fruitified Sherri.

"She thinks she's five..." Trudy responded, hesitating.

"Is there a wall I can bang my head against? How are we supposed to find out where to go if she thinks she's five?"

Trudy placed both hands on my shoulders, turning me to face her. "Now, let's be logical here, Butch. We can either speak to her rationally and on the level of a five-year-old, or we can try to bring out one of her other personalities. However, I'd choose the former. If we try to bring out another personality, we may end up bringing out a violent one on accident. Plus, like I said, 'Candy' is the only one who knows where we're supposed to go."

I took a deep breath. "You're right, Trudy. Okay. Let's be rational..." I wondered how Sherri's five-year-old personality managed to find out where we were supposed to go. I'd have to ask Trudy about that one later, when we were finished working all of this preliminary crap out. "Let's go talk to her."

"All right." Trudy removed her hands from my shoulders, turning her attention to Sherri. With the voice of a mother calling her child, the blonde called out to the brunette. "Candy! We need to talk to you!" Sherri stopped bouncing around and singing, her smile fading for but a moment as she tried to determine who we were. Confusion crossed her face when she looked at me, but happiness consumed her features when she saw Trudy.

"Trudy!" She skipped towards the blonde beside me excitedly.

I leaned over to whisper in Trudy's ear, "I thought you said her other personalities didn't like you..."

"They don't... But I've never interacted with this one before, and thank Arceus that this one seems to like me!" Trudy whispered back. She smiled warmly as Sherri skidded to a halt before us, giggling childishly. "Candy, this is Butch." Trudy gestured to me in a friendly way in an attempt to familiarize 'Candy' with me.

With the wave and voice of a little girl, Sherri giggled as she turned her eyes to rest on me. "Hi..." She blushed.

"Hey," I replied, waving slightly. Sherri blushed even harder, biting her fingernails as she looked between Trudy and me.

"Candy, do you know where we're supposed to be going?"

With a confused but still happy expression, she answered by saying, "What do you mean?"

"There's a tournament we have to compete in, remember? And I heard that you know where we're supposed to go first!"

"Ohhhh~ That." She giggled _again_, still letting her eyes flash between the two of us. "Yeah, Truuuuudy. I know where we're supposed to go."

Trudy smiled, but I could see the exasperation in her dark brown eyes. "Can you tell us, please? I would be really happy if you would tell us where to go."

Sherri shook her head, her long brown ponytail flying back and forth. "Nooo, I don't think I want to tell yoooou. I'm having too much fun here!"

"Oh, but Candy, please," Trudy started, her voice growing softer. "It's super-dooper important that we find out where we need to go! Don't you want to help us?"

"Not really," Sherri replied, suddenly frowning. The blonde beside me swallowed hard. "I don't want to tell you."

"Candy," I interjected, "please tell us. Don't you want to make us happy?" _Please, Candy, please be a people-pleaser... _"We really need your help."

Sherri looked down, shuffling her feet. "Well... I... I guess I could show you... But you guys have to promise me something!"

"_Anything_!" Trudy and I answered in unison.

"You have to play with me and my pokemon afterward!"

"We promise," I said, offering Sherri a smile. Trudy nodded.

"Of course we'll play with you and your pokemon. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun!"

"Yay!" Sherri beamed, clasping her hands together. "Okay! Follow me, and I'll show you where we need to go!"

Trudy and I traded glances, sharing our relief. We were now one step closer to finding out who our teachers would be, and one step closer to the multi-regional competition.

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><p><strong>Woo! I'm tired now... Sorry that the Elites didn't show up in this chapter. This chapter actually didn't go as I had originally thought it would, so yeah. But I'm pretty sure the Elites will show up within the next one or two chapters, so no worries! I'm going to hit the sack, so guten nacht! Please review and tell me what you thought! <strong>

**~Peaches**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to all who read, reviewed, etc., etc.! I really appreciate it! Here's chapter seven. Hopefully I'll have chapter eight up later tonight. Enjoy! **

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><p>Sherri yawned, stretching her arms above her head as she led us through Slateport City. I wasn't sure as to how long we had been walking already, yet I knew that we probably weren't even half way to our destination. "I'm tired, guys..."<p>

"Just keep it up for a little while longer," Trudy eased, crossing her fingers as she jammed one hand into her pocket. Unlike me, she had been smart enough to bring a duffel bag as opposed to a suitcase. "Although, I'll admit, it is getting a little late. Maybe we should find a place to bunk for the night." The blonde looked conflicted, debating whether or not to keep going or to stop and rest.

"I don't know, Trudy," I murmured so that Sherri wouldn't hear me. "If we stop for the night, Candy might disappear..."

"Your point is valid, but if we push Sherri too much now, she might feel threatened..."

It wasn't hard to piece the puzzle together. "And a violent personality will show up, right?" Trudy nodded, never taking her eyes off of Sherri. "I don't know what to do then... Unless, you want me to try to find Kat and Jayden. Do you think they might know?"

"There's no harm in trying... I hadn't met up with them when we got off the ship. Truthfully, Candy might not be the only one who knows, now that I think about it."

"See, that's good! I'll go and talk to Kat to see what he knows. You and Sherri find a place to stay for the night. Send one of your pokemon to find me when you do, so that I know where to meet up with you two later," I instructed. "Could you take my suitcase with you?" She nodded, so I handed it over to her.

"All right. Good luck with Kat and Jayden. You'll need it. Trust me." Trudy turned to walk up next to Sherri, speaking to her in a low, calming voice. I stopped to look around, attempting to get my bearings on my surroundings. Luxray's eyes shifted around, seemingly interested in everything that moved, even in the slightest. His ears pricked forward slightly. Cinccino stirred in my arms, but didn't wake up at all as Luxray trotted forward.

I followed after him, thinking that he was already searching for Kat. "You remember him well, don't you?" Luxray snorted, his tail flicking back and forth slowly as we walked. "I know the feeling. Kat's definitely not an easy person to forget. Is he close by?" My query was answered in an instant as Luxray's fur sparked, electricity crackling throughout his navy blue mane. I tensed up, quirking an eyebrow, tightening my hold on Cinccino. She opened one eye sleepily to see what was happening. "What is it, Luxray?"

Luxray growled fiercely, before lurching forward, bolting after a... Zangoose. He was chasing a Zangoose. "Luxray! No! Come back!" I took off after him, trying not to lose sight of his sky blue fur and shuriken-like tail. Cinccino's other eye snapped open as she struggled in my arms, trying to turn herself as she called out to Luxray as well.

"Cin, cin!" She squeezed out of my grasp, leaping onto the ground and scampering after the gleam eyes pokemon. I pushed past people, throwing all former notions of manners and politeness to the wind. It didn't matter if people thought ill of me. It wasn't like I was coming back to Slateport anyway, right? I scrambled after my renegade pokemon, keeping my eyes on Luxray instead of Cinccino, knowing that wherever Luxray was, I would be sure to find Cinccino close by.

Zangoose stopped short, whirling on Luxray with a violent slash attack. Luxray was thrown aside, being unprepared for a sudden outburst such as that. Zangoose started to run again, but I was hardly about to let it get away. Was it wild? Or a captive pokemon that had just been separated from its trainer? "Luxray, don't let it out of your sight!" The electric pokemon was up in no time, again running after Zangoose with fiery eyes.

We chased the pokemon into a corner, boxing him in so that his only escape would be to jump over the barrier that separated the ocean from the land. Luxray didn't even wait for a command; instead, he let loose with thunderbolt, shocking the daylights of the opposing pokemon. _Must be the Rivalry ability, _I thought for a second, before turning my attention back to the pokemon themselves.

Zangoose lunged at Luxray, slashing him with a powerful x-scissor. This only infuriated Luxray even more, and again without a command he attacked. His tail flashed under the city lights as he brought his tail down hard on Zangoose. The steel type attack sent the normal type pokemon skidding backwards, but it didn't seem to dampen his will to fight. The two pokemon traded blows repeatedly, causing me to stir slightly. Was this what a wild pokemon battle would look like? Two pokemon brutalizing each other until one retreated - or worse?

Cinccino tugged on my pant leg, her eyes wide with fear. I looked over my shoulder, only to feel my heart sink down to my feet. Three more pokemon were coming up behind us, their snarls vicious. I assumed that they were either friends with the Zangoose or that they were on the same team as it was. Mightyena, Crawdaunt, and Cacturne. I pulled two pokeballs off of my belt, tossing them up into the air as I turned to face the new arrivals.

Lansky, Deino, and Mothim appeared before me, immediately tensing, ready for a battle. Cinccino hid behind me, quaking with fear at the dark type pokemon. The six pokemon stared each other down, growling and snarling, never taking their eyes off of each other. It was Crawdaunt that struck first, lashing out with a violent crabhammer, directed at Lansky.

"Dig!" I ordered, my voice shaking. Lansky burrowed his way into the ground, narrowly avoiding Crawdaunt's crabhammer. "Deino, body slam! Mothim, you've got Cacturne, so use aerial ace!" I was unsure for a number of reasons, the first being that I was actually a little scared, scared enough that my hands were shaky enough to match my voice, and the second being that I had little experience with triple battles. To make it more difficult, I was using Deino, whom I had little experience _controlling_.

Mightyena charged at Deino, preparing to use bite, and in one fell swoop the larger dark type had Deino in the midst of its bite attack. The blind pokemon let out a yelp of pain, struggling to free himself from Mightyena's grasp. "Body slam!" I commanded again, seeing Cacturne needle arm Mothim to the ground out of the corner of my eye. I winced, fearing this battle may not end in my favor. Deino rammed his body into Mightyena's chest, causing the wolf-like beast to bark out of pain and surprise. Deino jerked away, before using body slam again to knock Mightyena to the side.

I turned to Lansky's part of the battle, watching Crawdaunt scuttle across the ground, searching for the place where the ground type pokemon would emerge. "Now!" I shouted, signaling Lansky. He lurched from beneath the surface, slamming into Crawdaunt. The crawdad-like pokemon was sent flying, but to both Lansky's and my own surprise, he quickly recovered, landing with crabhammer. The move connected with Lansky's head, forcing him down to the ground.

My head snapped around as Mothim's cry distracted me. He was back up in the air, but he was already battered and bruised. "Mothim, bug buzz!" Mothim shot forward, attacking the opposing Cacturne with whatever power he could muster. Cacturne cried out, staggering back as it tried to shield its face. "Aerial ace!" That move connected, too, sending Cacturne backwards roughly. "Keep it up, Mothim!" Whirling back to Lansky and Crawdaunt, I addressed Lansky. "Foul play!" Crabhammer's attack power was turned and used against Crawdaunt, allowing Lansky to gain the upper hand for a moment. "Dig, again!"

With a little more confidence under my belt, I looked back to Deino and Mightyena. "Dragon pulse!" I instructed, my voice still shaking, but with more firmness to it than before. However, my stomach dropped to join my heart in my feet. Deino continued to use body slam, and despite its current effectiveness, it was wearing off fast. Mightyena had found a way to avoid Deino's body slam, and so it edged around to sucker punch the smaller dark type. Deino squealed in pain, ducking his head down. "No, Deino! Don't duck your head!" Mightyena's paw came around to execute the move assurance. "Deino, dodge!" He didn't listen, instead merely ducking his head further down, taking the hit. He was knocked to the side, letting out another pitiful cry.

Mightyena lunged at him again, the entire scene invoking a feeling of helplessness and despair within me. How was I supposed to defeat these, for all I knew, rogue pokemon? I glanced to Mothim, who was being tossed around like a rag doll, and then to Lansky, who was being barraged with water type attacks. My body reacted before my mind had a chance to think of something rational. I lunged for Mightyena, grabbing it around the muzzle in an attempt to pry it off of Deino, who was flailing around beneath it. Mightyena's eyes widened with shock and surprise as he jerked away from my hands.

A sharp stabbing pain jolted through my fingers, centering itself in my palm. I yelped out of pain, causing the Mightyena to back off slightly. At that moment, I realized it was indeed a trainer's pokemon, but the throbbing pain in my hand took center stage in my mind. I looked down, shocked to see blood trickling across my fingers and my palm. _Its teeth must have cut you when it jerked back... An accident... _I looked back up at the Mightyena, who was now backing away slowly, turned to Cacturne and Crawdaunt. He howled, before bolting away at full speed. Cacturne and Crawdaunt pushed their opponents away, darting off after their teammate.

Cinccino's large eyes were full of tears as she scampered over to me. "Cin, cinccino!" she cried, staring at my hand.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," I assured her, wincing at the pain in my hand. "It was my fault, don't worry." A few cries erupted behind us, catching our attention, but Zangoose bolted past, heading after the other three. Luxray collapsed, hitting the ground with a thud, his breathing incredibly heavy. Lansky lay on the ground, fighting to keep his eyes open. Deino was shaking and quivering beside me, his aggressive demeanor suddenly gone. Mothim seemed to be the only one of my pokemon who was able to keep himself relatively composed.

As I sat there, the feeling of fear crept up inside me. _What if their trainer comes back here? Worse yet, what if the trainer's angry? _"Guys, I think we should go," I started, hearing the own fear bubbling over into my voice. It was irrational of me to think that way, but irrational fear had taken hold of my body and my mind. "We've already attracted a lot of attention." Which was true, as in fact many people were staring at us. I didn't want anyone approaching us anytime soon, so I clambered to my feet, scooping Cinccino up with one arm. I wiped my hand on the side of my pants, deciding it could wait, purely because I was too scared to find someone to help me.

Luxray let out a heavy, ragged breath, before climbing to his feet as well. Lansky was the last to get himself right side up, and knowing that Deino would slow us down, I recalled him to his pokeball. "Cin, cin...?" She looked up at me inquiringly, curling up in the crook of my arm.

"We just have to get to the next city. It can't be too far off, can it? We'll just head north." Luxray, without hesitation, bounded forward, taking off ahead of us to clear the way. I returned Lansky and Mothim to their pokeballs next, and with Cinccino safe and secure in my arms, took off after Luxray, trying to ignore the pain in my hand.

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><p><strong>I seriously didn't think I'd get this chapter done this soon... Woo! Yeah, now I can work on the next chapter later tonight. Review and tell me what you thought, please! <strong>

**~Peaches **


	8. Chapter 8

**I finished this chapter earlier than I expected to, actually. ;P Thanks to everyone who has followed this story so far! I really do appreciate it! :D Here's chapter eight! Enjoy! **

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><p>As I took off up some unknown route, the little voice at the back of my head started asking the tough questions. Where was I even going? And what was I going to do when I got there? Wasn't I supposed to be looking for Kat? Wasn't I <em>also <em>supposed to be getting ready to meet Hoenn's Elite Four and Champion? I slowed down, needing time to think things through a little better. Luxray trotted back to me, sitting on his haunches.

"We should head back," I thought aloud, glancing over my shoulder. However, the fear stirred inside me once more, keeping me planted firmly in place. Luxray, seeing that I hadn't moved yet, didn't move either. "Okay, so... Maybe heading back isn't the best idea right now." Luxray eased himself onto the ground, resting his head on his paws with a heavy sigh. I had to take into consideration that my pokemon were hurt from the battle with those pokemon...

I cursed under my breath, looking up at the sky. Little pinpricks of light dotted the sky, shining down on the water nearby, while the moon cast its rays over the grassy patches of land just up ahead. We had halted a t-junction; ahead of us sat a small house, while behind us was the route back to Slateport City. To the left, I hadn't the slightest idea what I would get myself into if I walked that way, and to the right... The grassy patches.

"All we have to do is make it past this route, and I'm sure... I'm sure there's a town up ahead!" I told myself, trying to talk myself into moving forward. "My pokemon can get some rest at the pokemon center, and I can get a little bit of sleep to calm myself down..." I could see little lights up in the distance, which assured me that there was a city, and that if there was a city, I could surely reach it, couldn't I? "And I'll spend a day in that city. Tomorrow night, I'll head back to Slateport, and we'll go from there." This, in my tired, frightened mind, made sense and seemed logical enough. The trainer who owned those pokemon wouldn't possibly stick around an entire day, would they? No... Of course not!

Satisfied that my logic was almost full-proof, I nudged Luxray with my foot gingerly. He opened his eyes, the exhaustion making itself blatantly known. I decided it would be easier to recall him to his pokeball, so I did just that, before starting off, taking the right path on the t-junction. Throughout the entire walk, I was rather jumpy, which made the going a little slower. Every few minutes I would hear rustling in the grass, ultimately ending up running back five paces and having to ease my way back again. I couldn't even keep count of how many times this must have happened.

I was about halfway through the route when a loud voice and quite a bit of rustling scared me senseless. I was poised to run away again, but a short boy emerged from the shadows, staring at the sleeping Cinccino in my arms. "Whoa! What is _that_?" he asked, pointing. I glanced down, realizing what he meant.

"Oh... This is Cinccino," I replied, watching as her eyes fluttered open, before drooping back closed.

"What region are you from? You must be a foreigner, because we don't have any Cinccino around here."

"I'm from Sinnoh, but Cinccino is from Unova. Speaking of, what city am I headed towards?" I queried, looking hopeful.

"Mauville City. Wattson is the gym leader there," he explained. "What's your name?"

"Butch," I answered. Feeling a little less on edge because he _wasn't _some sick psychopath, I asked him for his name. "And yours is?"

"Edwin. I'm a pokemon collector! Do you have Pokenav? How about a pokedex? Do you have a pokedex?" Edwin questioned, looking genuinely excited and curious. I shook my head.

"I don't have either of those two things," I responded. "How much farther away is Mauville from here, do you think?"

Edwin paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I'd say... You're about halfway there."

"Okay. Thanks, Edwin. My pokemon are hurt, and I'm just exhausted."

His brow furrowed. "Oh. Is Cinccino hurt, too? I was hoping that you would have a battle with me so that I could see the rest of your pokemon."

"I've got an idea," I began. "If you want to have a battle with me, accompany me up to Mauville. I'll heal my pokemon, and then in the morning we can have a battle. Does that sound all right? I'll be in town all day tomorrow, so I've got time." Edwin quirked an eyebrow, folding his arms.

"How exclusive to this region are your pokemon?" Oh, yeah. This kid was definitely a collector.

"None of them are from Hoenn. Three are from Sinnoh; the other three are from Unova."

"Deal. Let's go!" Edwin clapped his hands together once, turning on his heels and starting through the grass fearlessly. I chased after him, feeling slightly less jumpy. From that point on, the journey to Mauville City went a lot quicker than it had before.

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><p>The next day, Edwin and I found ourselves on the battlefield out behind the pokemon center. "So, how many pokemon are we using?" I asked, a fresh, lively Cinccino sitting at my feet nibbling on an oran berry.<p>

"I've got three pokemon, so it should be a three-on-three battle. Use two Unova pokemon and one Sinnoh, please," Edwin added, placing his backpack on the ground beside him. He pulled a pokeball from his belt, holding it up to the light for a moment, before tossing it up into the air. "Come on out, Nuzleaf!" The small pokemon appeared in front of him, crouching down slightly, ready for a battle.

"Sounds good to me, Edwin. Do you mind if I use a pokemon I have little experience with? I need to train him a little bit more."

"As long as it's a pokemon I've never seen before, I'm fine with that!"

"Cool." I pulled Deino's pokeball off of my belt, tossing it up in the air just as Edwin had done. As soon as he popped out of his pokeball, he was sniffing the air, running around and slamming face first into random objects around us. I'm pretty sure he slammed into the same tree at least five times, if not more. "This is Deino. He's blind, if that's not already obvious."

Edwin looked excitedly thoughtful. "Is that common to Deino's species?"

"Yes. Deino in general are very violent pokemon, too."

"Interesting. All right! Nuzleaf, swagger!" Edwin commanded, wasting little time now. Nuzleaf sucked in a deep breath of air, puffing his small chest out. His long, pointy nose tilted up towards the sky as he bent his head back slightly. Deino (currently banging his head against a nearby rock) stood straight up, sniffing the air. He growled slightly, seemingly able to smell the arrogance that surrounded the move called swagger.

"Deino," I began carefully, "use body slam!" Deino merely stayed in his spot, before bolting forward, only to slam face first into the rock. I face palmed, feeling a pang of despair and embarrassment overcome me. The dual-type pokemon turned, sniffing the air. He charged forward, somehow angling himself in Nuzleaf's direction. At least he was listening to my command. That was a good sign, right? Right?

"Nuzleaf! Dodge it and use razor leaf!" I wondered if Deino's inability to aim himself in Nuzleaf's direction was because of the confusion caused by swagger, or if it was just his own blindness.

"Dodge the razor leaf, Deino!" I countered, crossing my fingers and jamming my hands in my pockets. Nuzleaf slid out of the way of the body slam attack, but Deino didn't stop moving. He just kept running, until he slammed into another tree. "What kind of slapstick comedy is this?" I smacked my hands against my cheeks, letting them slide down pathetically. "Deino! Turn around and dodge the razor leaf attack!"

Nuzleaf quickly dispatched the leaves, their sharp edges whistling through the air as they shot straight towards Deino. The small, dark-dragon type pokemon turned his head, sensing the leaves, but not moving out of the way in time. The attack connected and he was sent backwards so easily that one could have mistaken him for a toy. He tumbled across the dry ground, landing a good distance away from the tree he had been standing at just moments earlier.

"Deino, get up!" I commanded, putting a firm tone to my voice. "Use body slam!" Deino clambered to his feet, snapping his jaws, before scampering forward, sniffing the air to get an idea as to where his opponent was. _His attack has been raised because of that swagger attack... If only Deino could land a hit... _"Focus, Deino!" I called out to him, cupping my hands around my mouth.

"Pound!" Edwin instructed, his face reflecting a calculating calmness. Nuzleaf, with full confidence in his abilities and in his trainer's orders, jumped up into the air, coming down on Deino hard. If Deino had eyes, Nuzleaf would have hit him smack dab in between his eyes, and even so he was knocked silly. Deino staggered backward, crying out slightly, his voice pathetic.

"Deinoooo~" He turned tail, scuttling back towards me.

"Wait, Deino! NO, no, turn around, no!" I held out my hands, waving them around frantically, despite the fact that he couldn't see them. Maybe he would sense them waving around in the air...? I didn't know, so I just did whatever I could to get him to change direction. "No! Deino, turn the other way! Deino!" He merely picked up the pace, whining as he ran towards me. I started to shuffle backwards, but he slammed straight into my legs, knocking me off of my feet. It all happened so fast that I wasn't even sure if it had happened in the first place. I flipped forward, landing hard on my back. Yelping out of pain, I closed my eyes, covering my face. "Deino..." I groaned, sighing exasperatedly.

"Deino...?" He sounded confused.

I clambered back to my feet, rubbing the back of my head. "Why can't you do that to the opponent?" I mumbled, sighing again.

"Razor leaf!"

"Dodge it and use body slam!" Deino, who was now behind me, suddenly whirled around, opening his mouth as wide as it would go. Part of me was almost afraid his jaw would unhook, that's how wide his mouth could open. A purple ball of light began to form itself as my eyes widened slightly. "Oh, shnikies..." I dove out of the way as a bright purple beam shot forward, disintegrating the leaves on contact. Nuzleaf's eyes widened as he stepped back, but the beam connected, engulfing him in purple.

"Nuzleeeeaaaafffff!" When the beam faded, Nuzleaf looked utterly shocked. He twisted in a circle, collapsing in a heap on the ground.

"What move was that...?" Edwin questioned, his voice quiet as he stared at his fainted pokemon.

"I believe that was dragon pulse."

"Just as I assumed. Good job, Nuzleaf! You put a dent in that thing, at least," Edwin commented, his voice affectionate. He recalled Nuzleaf, before picking another pokeball off of his belt. "Don't switch pokemon. I want to study Deino's attack habits a little bit more." I nodded, crawling away from Deino. I wasn't fond of the idea of being fried like an egg on the pavement on a hot summer's day. Cinccino had long scampered away, sitting in a safe little bush. "Let's go, Lombre!"

I got to my feet, looking between my pokemon and Edwin's. "You ready, Deino?" My voice was filled with hesitation as Deino trotted forward as if nothing had happened.

"Lom, lom, lombre!" Lombre sounded rather confident and more than ready to battle.

"Deino, use bite!"

"Fury swipes, Lombre!"

Both pokemon charged at each other, throwing caution to the wind. Lombre leapt up slightly, his short red claws glowing a bright white. Deino, however, ran right under him, stopping short to snap his jaws. "Behind you!" I shouted, watching as the grass-water type landed on the ground, his back to Deino. My pokemon spun around, instead ramming his entire body into Lombre's back. "Okay... That works, I guess."

Lombre was sent shooting towards me, a slight cheer of sorts erupting from the sidelines as Cinccino smiled happily. Her cheer reminded me of the berry pouch I had attached to my pokeball belt. As Edwin gave his next command (which was to get up and use fury swipes again), I stuck my fingers into the pouch, pulling out an oran berry. "Deino!" I exclaimed, holding up the berry. He tilted his nose to the air. "If you use bite, I'll give you a berry!"

"Deinnnnnooooooooo!" I had never seen a pokemon freak out over a simple oran berry like that before, and I haven't seen it happen sine. Deino charged forward, his jaws working overtime as Lombre prepared another bout of the move fury swipes. Both pokemon collided; Lombre swiped at Deino's face, while the latter latched his teeth onto Lombre's left arm. They squealed and growled, fighting each other in that deadlock position.

"Bubblebeam!" Edwin quickly ordered.

"Body slam for two berries!" I felt like an auctioneer, but this paid off; even though Deino was hit with bubblebeam and was forced to let go of Lombre, he still jolted forward to ram his chest into Lombre. The dual-type, Hoenn-native pokemon skidded backwards, before executing another fury swipes under Edwin's guidance. Deino merely took the attack, before practically trampling Lombre as he ran back towards me. I tossed one berry to him, which he gobbled up greedily; afterward, I tossed him the second, and he repeated the same process.

"Lombre, use uproar!" Lombre planted himself firmly on the ground, tilted his head back and screeched as loudly as possible. I covered my ears, cringing at the sound as Deino stopped in his tracks, bending his head to the ground, whimpering out of slight pain. Lombre, still screeching, stormed forward, picking up speed as he ran towards Deino. Edwin covered his ears as well, while Cinccino dove into the bush.

Just before Lombre could make contact with Deino, a flash of red and white burst by, knocking Lombre to the ground roughly. The screeching stopped promptly, and Lombre sat up, looking confused and a little aggravated. Deino, hearing that the uproar had ceased to fill the air around him, turned his head back to the sky, making a rather confused noise.

"Was that a...?" Edwin paused, looking over at me.

"I think it was..." I replied, dropping my hands to my pokeball belt. The flash of red and white reappeared, although this time slow enough for us to determine that it was indeed as we had feared: a Zangoose. My eyes widened slightly as Cinccino scrambled from the bushes, booking it towards me. "That's the same one from last night," I remarked, clutching Luxray's pokeball.

Edwin looked confused. "Is it wild?"

"Nope," I responded, my heart skipping a beat. _I guess that trainer found me after all... _Zangoose growled slightly, his eyes darting between Edwin and me.

"Who does it belong to?" Edwin pulled his other pokeball off of his belt, prepared for a battle, just as I was.

"I have no idea."

At that moment, we heard footsteps and more growling. My head snapped around as the same Mightyena appeared, but the person beside it was what startled me the most. I froze in my spot, eyes widening even further.

It was Sidney.

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><p><strong>Yes! Chapter completed! X) I had to kind of improvise as to what uproar might look like. *sweatdrops and smiles sheepishly* Please review and tell me what you thought! <strong>

**~Peaches **


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! Enjoy! I woulda had this up earlier, but I got distracted with an idea for another fic. Sorry! **

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><p>Flashes of red, claws, fur, and everything in between exploded before my eyes, catching not only me off guard, but Sidney and Edwin as well. All of my pokemon, Deino included, were charging Zangoose and Mightyena, and in the chaotic frenzy, Sidney's other pokemon had materialized on the field as well. If you've ever seen two packs of pokemon fight over territory, it would be <em>nothing <em>in comparison to what happened here.

Sidney regained himself faster than I could, so he took charge. "Zangoose, Mightyena!" The normal and the dark type both backed off slightly, but Luxray and Deino dragged them right back in. Sidney looked a little surprised, shooting me a confused glance. I took this as my cue to get involved and try to control my pokemon.

"Luxray!" I took a step forward, immediately regretting it as Zangoose and Luxray tumbled towards me, growling and attempting to claw each other's eyes out. Taking a different approach, I turned towards Empoleon, deciding that he would be the one to put a stop to the fighting. However, I was disheartened to find that he was just as absorbed in the fight as all of the other pokemon were. I looked over at Sidney, my brow creased.

Absol, the only one of the Elite's pokemon that wasn't fighting, didn't even have to look at his trainer to know what he wanted. Sidney merely nodded once, giving Absol the silent cue to go ahead and do what was needed. Edwin and I watched in admiration and awe as Absol, with just the simple execution of the move razor wind, brought every feuding pokemon on the field down in one fell swoop. Cinccino, thankfully for her, was again in my arms and remained unscathed.

"..." Edwin was speechless, his eyes wide with shock and awe.

I wasn't sure what to say to Sidney, so I merely stood there, recalling my pokemon in a heavy silence. Sidney did the same, recalling his now-injured pokemon, aside from Absol. Finally, I found my words, so much so that I could speak. "Sorry about that... Luxray holds grudges." I rubbed the back of my neck with my bandaged hand, trying not to feel so awkward.

To my surprise, Sidney's only response was: "Don't sweat it. Zangoose is like that, too."

"Wha-? You're not... Not angry?"

"Nope. Why would I be? It's not like you knew they were my pokemon. I can dig it, you defending yourself. I woulda done the same," Sidney replied, waving his hand dismissively. I relaxed a little, feeling slightly reassured by his unfazed countenance. "Besides, I been looking for you all morning. That Trudy kid's gonna whoop you if you pull a stunt like this again."

Honestly? I felt like a little kid who had just gotten in trouble for drawing all over the wall with markers. "... Sorry," I mumbled. Sidney merely waved his hand again.

"It'll soften the blow if we get back to Slateport. We gotta catch a boat to Petalburgh, by the way," he explained, looking over at Edwin. "... But I think you two can finish up your battle, if that's all right with you." Edwin's face lit up like a small child's does on Christmas.

"Oh, of course! Only if you'll watch," the collector responded, clasping his hands together. Sidney grinned, nodding once. He and Absol took their places by the bushes where Cinccino had been standing earlier as Edwin turned his attention to me. "Lombre's not out of it yet. Is Deino okay to battle? I want to study him most extensively."

My face was a bright red, but I tried to shake it off. "Yeah... Deino should be all right..." I plucked his pokeball off of my belt, even though I had only just placed it back in its original position. After tossing it up, a battered but still battle-ready Deino materialized before me. "Yeah. He's fine."

"Terrific! Let's go, Lombre!" The little Lombre appeared again, and our battle from earlier resumed.

"Deino," I started, voice shaky again, "use body slam!" I touched the berry pouch, hoping he could at least smell the berries. At first, it was a relief to know that Deino _could _smell the berries... And then, when he was charging towards me again, I decided that it was a bad thing. "No! Turn around! I won't give you any berries if you don't turn around and fight Lombre!" My voice was dripping with the sloppiness of panic.

"Lombre, use bubblebeam while Deino's back is turned!" Edwin commanded, taking advantage of the weakness.

"No! Deino, turn around!" I ordered, waving my hands wildly again. The dual-type refused to listen, instead growling out me in annoyance. Maybe restricting his berry intake was a bad idea after all... "Deino...?" The hesitance and fear in my voice probably didn't help matters. He reared up slightly, crying out fiercely, before charging towards me. I turned tail, actually _running away _from my own pokemon. To add insult to injury, all of this was happening in front of Sidney - I still couldn't believe he had taken things so lightly. Later I would come to understand that this was because Trudy would chew me out for it, but that's not something I want to dig up at the moment.

For once in my life, I was relieved to see that an opponent's attack connected with my own pokemon. Deino tumbled forward, somersaulting like a rookie gymnast. "Lombre, use fury swipes!"

"Deino! Get up and use dragon pulse!" I shouted, feeling panicky. _Focus on Deino, not Sidney. Ohhh, Deino... Why won't you listen? _"Deino!" He snapped at me, causing me to jump slightly. "Don't attack me; attack Lombre! Dragon pulse!" Instead, he slammed into my legs, his hard head sending bursts of pain throughout my legs. I yelped, falling flat on my face yet again.

I heard Lombre collide with Deino, and I heard Deino's body fly into a nearby tree as he tried to run away from Lombre's sharp claws. Thudding footsteps came towards me, followed by soft paws padding along beside them. "Hey, kiddo, that's a dark type pokemon, am I right?" I looked up to see Sidney and Absol standing beside me.

"Yes," I replied. "Why do you ask?" _Please give me some advice, pleeeeassse... _I felt pathetic, but I needed some assistance from the dark type master.

"Mind if I take him for a spin? I've heard about those things from Grimsley, but never really battled with one."

"Sure," I answered with a sigh, standing up. "He doesn't listen to me, most of the time."

"We'll figure out a way to remedy that," Sidney remarked, nodding slightly.

Edwin's eyes sparkled as he gave the order for Lombre to perform its next move. "Use fury swipes, again!"

"Deino, use bite!" Sidney instructed, his voice firm. The small pokemon perked his head up, before swiftly turning and catching Lombre in his teeth. The Elite smiled, nodding again as he gave the next command. "Now, toss him and use dragon pulse while he's vulnerable!" Without hesitation, Deino tossed Lombre up like a limp puppet, opening his mouth as wide as he could. Again, I was almost sure his jaw would unhook. As Lombre started to fall back down, the bright purple beam shot forth, hitting Lombre directly. The grass and water type yelped out of pain, before hitting the ground with a loud thunk. He was out like a light. "Good work," Sidney praised, crouching down to get on Deino's level.

As Edwin recalled his pokemon, Deino trotted over to Sidney, letting the latter pet his head. "I'm... Impressed," I commented, feeling a little jealous, but what was I to expect? Sidney wasn't part of the Elite Four for no good reason.

"It's nothin'. All you gotta do is have a little bit of confidence in him and in yourself. Just put your foot down and don't run away. That way, Deino'll get the message that you're the boss, not him. Make sense, kiddo?" Sidney explained, looking up at me as if it was simple, first grade addition and subtraction. Addressing Edwin, he asked, "You got another pokemon, right?"

"Yes! Of course! I have one left that can battle," Edwin replied, nodding fervently.

"Good." Sidney looked back to me. "I want you to try with a little more firmness and a tougher attitude. Deino'll listen better then. Got it?"

"I think," I answered, trying to mask the hesitation in my voice.

"There's no 'I think' about it. You're either sure or you're not."

"Okay. I'm sure," I replied, my voice firmer and stronger than I felt. I wondered if Sidney could see the doubt and the slight fear that flickered behind my eyes, and part of me wanted to show him that Deino was the only one that ever gave me trouble.

"Great. Use that passion and drive. Give it to Deino. That's what he needs," Sidney explained, standing up. He backed away to stand a few feet to the side, Absol still faithfully perched beside him. Sidney's calm, laid-back composure caught me off guard again, but I tried to push that aside. _Focus on Deino... _I squared my shoulders, cracking my knuckles as I did so.

"Okay. Let's see your next pokemon, Edwin."

"Right away. It's time to battle, Swellow!" The bird pokemon wore a cocky, confident expression, an expression I tried to mimic. "Aerial ace!"

"Bite!" I ordered, my voice shaking again. Deino merely reverted back to his original state, charging forward blindly.

"Remember, be firm!" Sidney reminded me. "Offense is the best defense."

"Firm, right," I mumbled under my breath. Deino was thrown aside easily by the aerial ace attack. "Deino, get up and use dragon pulse, now!" I could feel the frustration seeping in - the frustration from the earlier situation with my own and Sidney's pokemon, the frustration from the fact that I couldn't control my own pokemon, and the frustration caused by the fact that I might fail in front of one of Hoenn's Elite Four, in front of a person who very may well become my teacher later on.

I suppose the frustration in my voice was detected by Deino, as he let loose another dragon pulse, a move that almost hit Swellow. Edwin looked a little surprised as Sidney nodded encouragingly from the sidelines. "Less frustration, and more confidence! That'll work even better!"

"Swellow, use quick attack!"

"Deino, use body slam!" I commanded, literally putting my foot down. The dual-type pokemon shot forward, heading for the oncoming Swellow, who was flying at a breakneck pace. I crossed my fingers, jamming them into my pockets, but I tried to keep my expression confident. The pokemon collided, both sent flying backwards. Deino landed roughly at my feet, making me jump. Trying to calm myself, I took a deep breath, before mustering up whatever confidence I could. "Get up and use dragon pulse while Swellow is vulnerable!"

He hesitated, starting to revert back to his old ways as Edwin capitalized. "Swellow, get up, quickly! Use quick attack one more time!" Swellow chirped, bringing himself off of the ground swiftly. He darted forward, a flash of navy blue and red streaking through the air.

"Deino," I started. "Get up and use dragon pulse, now!" My voice was lined with frustration instead of confidence.

Before Sidney could say something or Deino could react, Swellow slammed into him, sending him flying for the umpteenth time. "Now, do it again! Finish the job, Swellow!"

"Deino, get-" I didn't even finish my sentence. Deino let out a terrible shriek, something that made everyone aside from Sidney cringe. In fact, the Elite's face lit up. "Sidney? What's so great about this?"

"Just watch," he responded, gesturing to Deino with a grin playing across his face. Edwin and I both turned our attention to the small creature, confused out of our wits as to what Sidney could be referring to. Deino rooted himself to the ground, planting his feet firmly, before throwing his tiny head back. He let out another terrible shriek, his body glowing a bright white.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the late update! Review and tell me what you thought, please! <strong>

**~Peaches**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow! It took me forever to write this chapter! Mostly due to my own distraction, but hey, it's finally up! I hope it's good - I had to remember how to write all of the characters. ^_^' Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Deino - or Zweilous, rather - looked frightening. I had seen pictures of these beasts before, read my fair share of internet articles, watched a great deal of shows concerning them, but never had I seen one in the flesh. Zweilous was still blind; however, I assumed his other senses had only increased with evolution. Edwin was elated to see that Deino had now evolved, as was I, but one question came to mind, a question that knotted itself in the pit of my stomach: If I couldn't control Deino in his first stage, how could I control him if he was a more powerful Zweilous?<p>

Without a command, Zweilous opened one of his two mouths to let loose another dragon pulse. "Swellow, dodge and use hyper beam!" As the dragon pulse fired, Swellow dove out of the way, looping up to begin charging up rather quickly for hyper beam. I could see that the battle was coming to an end, so the realization that I had to do something to prevent Zweilous from losing became fresh, taking center stage in my mind now.

_How do you tackle a hyper beam? There's no way Zweilous will dodge... _I looked to my pokemon quickly, watching as he started to move forward, his heads turned in the direction of Swellow, who was a second away from firing hyper beam. _Dragon pulse will have to do for now. _"Zweilous, use dragon pulse!" Whether he was listening to me or already planning to use that move anyway, I wasn't sure. Regardless, he opened one mouth again, firing the purple beam as the bright white one shot towards him.

The beams collided, and for a moment they merely pushed against each other with equal force. Unfortunately, this moment was fleeting, the tables were turned, and hyper beam was pushed forward with more force. I had to think quickly, think under pressure, all while keeping a calm and confident demeanor. _That's a little difficult to do when you're freaking out because your pokemon's about to get hyper beamed in the face...er, faces. _And then it struck me. Zweilous had two heads, not one - if I could get him to use dragon pulse with both heads, he might be able to pull this off.

"Zweilous! Use dragon pulse again!" My brow furrowed as the same head that had attacked before took charge, strengthening the current, waning dragon pulse. The other head did nothing except for shrink back, its jaw sealed shut and its entire side of the body frozen. Zweilous wouldn't even _be able _to dodge. "Use your other head, too!" I called out. Zweilous faltered, confused by the command, leaving him vulnerable. With widened eyes, I watched Swellow's hyper beam attack slam right into Zweilous' faces. The light engulfed him, causing me to shield my eyes.

The dual-type pokemon dropped to the ground when the light subsided, a limp heap. I walked towards him, kneeling beside him, placing one hand gently on one head. "Zweilous?" Even though I was frustrated for losing, Zweilous had tried, and part of it, although I hated to admit it, had to do with my own incapabilities. The pokemon merely groaned, his wings flapping slightly behind him. I turned my head at the sound of footsteps approaching, looking up to Sidney, who blocked out the rays of the blinding sun.

"You had the right idea, kiddo," he started. "But Zweilous didn't seem to get the picture, know what I mean? Work on getting him to use both heads and you'll be set." Turning his attention to Edwin as I rubbed Zweilous' heads gingerly, he beckoned for him to come forward. "You're a tough battler, kid. You should travel back to Slateport City with us." Edwin's eyes lit up as Swellow cooed happily.

"Really? That would be _amazing_! Thank you, thank you!" Edwin's pokemon landed beside him, tilting its head to the side as he dug around in his pockets for a berry.

I stood up, pulling out Zweilous' pokeball, but Sidney's hand was at my wrist in an instant. "I think you should keep him out." His dark eyes were surprisingly friendly, yet tinted with that seriousness one would expect from a member of the Elite Four. I wondered if he could see the mixed emotions in my own eyes, so I glanced down at Zweilous. "You gotta learn to trust him, just like he needs to learn to trust you. That's the only way you'll ever be able to cooperate together." I understood what Sidney was saying; it made sense to me, and he obviously lived what he preached, because I'd never seen a pokemon so faithful as his Absol.

So I nodded. "All right. I see what you mean."

Sidney smiled, releasing my wrist to let me replace the pokeball on my belt. Zweilous was already climbing to his feet, his noses in the air. I observed as the two heads started to fight with each other for a moment, before returning to sniffing at the air. I found myself feeling curious towards him, wondering if his heads had different personalities, and whether or not I could really teach him how to utilize both heads in battle.

"He looks weak," Edwin commented, walking towards us with a handful of sitrus berries. "Let him eat some of these. They're sure to make him perk up." Immediately, Zweilous made an excited noise, his wings lifting up and arching slightly at the heavy stench of the berries. He started to charge towards Edwin, whose eyes widened slightly at the pokemon. Sidney stepped in once more, his voice firm yet again.

"Zweilous, stop." And just like that, the dual type stopped in his tracks, turning one head to snort, looking at Sidney expectantly.

"You'll have to teach me how to do that," I commented, watching as the other head turned towards me. It made a sort of growling noise, before turning again towards Edwin, who began to feed berries to both heads. Sidney merely shrugged, his hands sliding into his pockets.

"It's like this: You channel your energy into your other pokemon when you battle, right?"

"Of course," I replied hastily, smiling at the thought of the indescribable feeling that came with being in touch with my pokemon. It was amazing to feel so close to Lansky and Mothim, and to know that I would always be able to count on Empoleon and Luxray - even Cinccino. Sidney must have seen something, as his lips pulled up into an approving smile as he gave a slight nod.

"How you feel about your pokemon - you want to feel that way about Zweilous, too, don't you?"

"Of course," I answered again, although this time, Sidney's words hit home.

"Channel that pride, that energy, into Zweilous when you battle. Let him know that you dig how he feels. Make sense?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Sidney." I smiled slightly, glancing over at my pokemon, who had already devoured the sitrus berries. Edwin had been right - after those berries, he did look a lot better. Both heads were perked up completely; he was shuffling around, exploring his surroundings like a curious child.

"Don't sweat it." The Elite glanced between Edwin and myself. "Okay, kiddos. I think we should get a move on back to Slateport. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can eat, and the sooner we can eat, the sooner we can get to Petalburgh." At the mention of eating, Cinccino was on my shoulder, her tiny stomach growling in my ear. My own stomach seconded the motion, and Edwin's made three. Sidney's eyes flashed as he shook his head, turning on his heels to head out. Edwin and I followed suit, Zweilous and Swellow in hot pursuit.

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><p>By the time we made it back to Slateport, the port town was bustling with people, shopping or sitting around eating lunch and feeding their pokemon. While Edwin and I had difficulties maneuvering our way through the thickening crowd, Sidney moved by with ease - people either noticed that he was an Elite and moved aside, or he just slipped through a sliver between all of the bodies, remaining unnoticed.<p>

"I never knew that Slateport could get so crowded," Edwin mumbled, pushing through the crowd. He was constantly craning his neck to get a look at Sidney, whose only identifying mark at this point was the tuft of pink hair atop his head. Absol had disappeared into the throng of people, blending in nicely. Zweilous was having a tough time of it, too; all of the people must have spooked him, considering that he was cowering at my feet, hardly willing to budge an inch. It seemed like even he had multiple personality disorder, what with suddenly going from fearless and curious to cowering like a kicked Lillipup.

"Neither did I," I responded, although I was out of my element anyway. "Hoenn is completely new to me."

"It's a lot different from Sinnoh or Unova," Edwin agreed. "Although, when you get right down to it, every region is the same. We all have respected Elite Four members and a Champion with their own quirks. We all raise and live together with pokemon." We found ourselves slowing down, the urge to fight the crowd dissipating. I looked over at Edwin, noting the dreamy, thoughtful expression on his face. "I want to be a pokemon professor, like Professor Birch. I want to travel like Professor Oak. That must be some kind of life, spending all of your time studying pokemon." He sighed.

"You would like my friend Trudy. She's, well, a walking talking pokedex."

"Really? Does she aspire to be a professor as well?"

"I'm not sure," I answered, shaking my head. "You could ask her."

"What about your other friends? Like Sidney?"

"I wouldn't say Sidney and I are _friends_. That incident earlier today was the first time I'd met him. He seems pretty cool, though."

Edwin paused for a moment. "Didn't he mention something about Trudy?"

"Yeah. Last night, I was supposed to meet up with her, Sherri, Kat, and his brother."

"_That's _where I've heard the name Trudy before!" Edwin facepalmed, shaking his head. "You must be one of the winners of that special contest! No wonder Sidney appeared out of nowhere. I should have guessed sooner." He reached out to take my hand, doing a double-take at the bandages, before shaking it firmly. "Pardon my manners." I waved my free hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it, Edwin."

He released my hand, looking back out into the now-thinning crowd. As a speck up ahead, we could see Sidney, stopped by a group of other people. "I assume those are the other winners?" I nodded, searching the group for Kat. He stood out to me, what with his messy hair, disdainful expression, and folded arms. "Which ones are which?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully as we found it easier to work our way down the less-crowded street.

"The one with auburn hair - that's Kat. His brother is the tall one with dark hair." I pointed the two out to him. "Trudy is the blonde one; Sherri's the brunette. But Sherri has multiple personality disorder, so sometimes she's Candy. Like I said, Trudy is rational and smart. She's really easy to get along with. I don't know much about Jayden, Kat's brother, and through my experiences with Kat, I've discerned that to other people he's polite and cordial. He seems to view me as a rival of sorts, if that's the right way to go about saying it."

Edwin nodded. "I've heard rumors about the two brothers."

"Wow. So those rumors have been around even before they had gotten on that boat."

"By the way you speak, it sounds like some of them are true."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I think some may be true, while others might just be overexaggerated. Like I said, I don't know enough to say for sure."

"Well, it seems like you have your judgments about Kat. No offense."

"None taken." I sighed, not terribly proud of those judgments. I would have liked to say that I knew Kat as the polite and cordial boy, the way Nurse Joy saw him, but there was no point ignoring the truth. Of course, I also questioned myself - why did I care so much to know the truth about Kat? "Although, Cinccino seems to like him. I think Cute Charm works on people, too."

Edwin smiled. "I agree! You see, that's what I love about people and pokemon."

"What do you mean?" I quirked an eyebrow, curious to know what he meant.

"People are always learning new things about pokemon through their regular, everyday interactions with them. I love listening to people talk about the quirky little things their pokemon do. It's never ceased to fascinate me! I often wonder if it's even more interesting in other places. I think it would be amazing to travel to someplace like Unova or Sinnoh, just to meet new people and pokemon. You must be lucky, visiting a new region like this." Edwin paused again, smiling bittersweetly. "I put my name in the drawing, but I suppose it just wasn't meant to be."

I stopped in my tracks, taking Edwin by the elbow and turning him to face me. "Hey. Just because you didn't win the contest doesn't mean you won't ever get to travel to a new place. I'm sure that someday it'll be time for you to visit Sinnoh, or Kanto or Unova. Just think about it, dream about it, and work towards it. After all, you know what your parents tell you when you're little. 'With pokemon, nothing is impossible.' Corny? Yes. True? Also a yes."

Edwin shook his head, laughing. "I always thought that it was lame when my parents told me that, but I always knew it was true."

"Case in point." I nodded, releasing his elbow as we continued to walk again.

"Now, Butch. What do you aspire to be?"

"Well... I'm not sure, really," I admitted. "I always thought it would be cool to study the legends and histories of all of the different regions. In Unova, the legends are about the hero and the legendary dragon pokemon that stood by his side. And then of course the two brothers who began arguing over whether or not ideals or truth was more important. Opelucid is one of the best places to go if you want to learn about dragon pokemon."

"Here in Hoenn, we have our own legends about Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza. Have you heard of them?" Edwin questioned.

"Heard the names, but never the stories. Spin me a tale, Edwin. Tell me about them."

"Well, long story short, Kyogre and Groudon were two warring beasts that fought with each other violently, until of course Rayquaza broke up the fight." We came up to the group of people we had been striving towards, so Edwin added, "I'll tell you the full story later on." I nodded, images of the giant pokemon and other legends crossing my mind as I checked to make sure Zweilous was beside me. He was a few paces behind, trotting forward as if there was no one else around him besides us, back to his usual self.

As I turned back towards the group, Trudy was suddenly standing right before me, her expression annoyed, her brow furrowed. My eyes widened as I stepped back out of surprise, completely caught off guard. "Oh, uh, heey, Trudy," I greeted, scratching the back of my neck as I regained myself.

"You were supposed to find Kat and Jayden," she remarked, her tone of voice clipped, like a mother scolding a child.

"Yes, and that was exactly what I was planning on doing, except-"

"Except? There is no 'except'! Do you know how worried I was? I thought something had happened to you! I was ready to call in Officer Jenny! You scared the living daylights out of us! Thank Arceus for Sidney and his pokemon! Had they not showed up, I would have flipped a lid!" she ranted, throwing her hands up into the air.

"Um, Trudy, I think you _are _flipping a lid," I started, readying myself to apologize. She cut me off again, her deep brown eyes furious.

"We're supposed to look out for each other, aren't we? And this is no time for joking, Butch! You could've gotten killed!"

"Yes, Trudy, I know - I mean, I had my pokemon; I was fine. I'm sorry - I didn't mean to scare you like that." I sighed, offering a very sheepish expression.

"Didn't mean to scare me like that - PFFT." She folded her arms, shaking her head. "This kind of irresponsibility-"

"Hey, hey, Trudy," Sidney started, stepping up to us. "Butch won't do it again. I can promise you that." I nodded, giving her a thumbs up to try and reiterate the master dark type trainer's point. "Besides, she had her pokemon. It's all good now. She apologized, and you know she's safe. No hard feelings." Trudy's stiff countenance remained for a while, until she finally gave an exasperated sigh and let her hands drop to her sides.

"Oh, all right. Fooey. Don't do it again, Butch."

"Scout's honor!" I replied, holding up three fingers, the scout's honor symbol.

I received a pointed look from Trudy, but she gave up on it and turned back to Sidney. I let out a relieved sigh, shooting the Elite a grateful glance. He merely flashed a mischievous smile as he turned back to Trudy. "Now that all that huh-bub has been taken care of, why don't we stop for a quick bite to eat. The boat to Petalburgh doesn't leave for another hour or so."

"Hour or so?" Kat spoke up. We all turned our eyes to him, resting our gazes there. "So, you're not exactly sure when it's supposed to leave?"

"Why worry about it? It won't leave without us. Wallace had it commissioned to pick us up. 'Special orders' and all that jazz." Sidney's tone of voice was cool and composed, his posture relaxed, hands in his pockets. "Don't worry about it, Kat. You dig?"

"Do I dig...?"

"Yeah, he digs," I interjected. Sidney nodded, taking this as his cue to lead us away.

"Awesome. I know the best little place in Slateport to eat, and they have the best taste in music there." He winked, turning on his heels. The rest of us followed after him, some more reluctantly than others (*coughcoughKatcough*).

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><p><strong>So, what did you think? Tell me in a review! I read all of them! :D <strong>

**~Peaches**


	11. Chapter 11

**Woo! Thanks to Zangoose-Kira and** **Oxenstierna D. Yuki-Rin for reviewing. :3 Hopefully this chapter will be all right! Enjoy! Now that I have some extra time, I should be able to upload a few more chapters. **

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><p>For the most part, lunch started out smoothly. Edwin and Trudy were getting to know each other quite nicely, I had a seat beside Sidney and Sherri, and the two brothers were talking quietly with each other across the table. Zweilous was asleep, half of his body beneath my chair, the other half beneath Sidney's chair. Absol was sunning himself on the large, flat window sill, while Swellow was being fed affectionately by one of the waitresses.<p>

"So when will we find out which Elite Four member we'll be paired up with?" I asked, taking a swig of my soda. There was nothing like good, cold soda pop slipping down the back of your throat. It was cold enough to jolt you, but not so cold that it hurt. It was a soothing syrup for me, anyway. Sidney was busy pouring himself a little bit from each pitcher, mixing it all together with a spoon, and taste-testing it to decide which flavor he needed more of. He paused in his experimenting to answer my question.

"Well, since Wallace and the other three are waiting for us in Petalburgh, I'd imagine we'll find out when we get to Petalburgh! But there's no rush," he added, stirring the drink mix again, before tossing it back. He gained a disgusted look, shaking his head. "Eh. Too much cherry." He picked up the orange pitcher, pouring a little bit into that to water down the cherry flavor. "Anyway, the Elites pick whichever trainer they like best. The Champion decides right after the names are drawn."

I glanced at the other trainers. "Do you know who the Champion picked?"

"Ya never really can tell with Wallace," Sidney replied, taking another drink of his concoction. With a satisfied expression, he took another swig, and then another.

"If he's anything like Alder, he'll be a handful for the lucky trainer that becomes his pupil," I remarked, shaking my head.

"Wallace is cool, don't get me wrong. He's just a little strange, but I guess all of us Hoenn natives are." He wiggled his eyebrows, setting the glass down on the table. "What I think is gonna be rough on you five is the fact that you have to catch all new pokemon to be able to compete in the tournament. You're only allowed to keep one of your current pokemon on your team. But then again, that's how you prove your strength. Know anything about Hoenn pokemon?"

"Not really," I replied, brow furrowing.

"Then this'll really be a test of strength," said the Elite, folding his arms.

Before I could give a reply, something very hard and very swift connected with my shin, making me jump at least five feet, bumping the table. Kat shot me a dirty look from across the table, a look intensified by his brother. If looks could kill... Let's just say, it wouldn't have been a pretty end for me. Trudy stopped short, turning to look at me with a quirked eyebrow, frowning. "Butch? What was that?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted, face turning bright red. It was like a mushroom cloud spreading across my face - I knew because I could feel the heat seeping through my cheeks. "Pardon me for one moment." I ducked under the table, looking beneath my chair to see if Zweilous was playing around, but the dual type was sound asleep, his wings twitching occasionally. I returned to my original position, shaking my head.

Kat snorted, rolling his eyes as he turned back to his brother, resuming his speech in a low tone of voice.

"You okay?" Sidney's eyebrow was quirked, like Trudy's.

"I think so." I reached down to rub my shin, only to feel the same hard, swift...whatever it was, slam into my hand. "For the love of-!" I pulled my hand away, nursing it as another mushroom cloud of crimson burst across my face. This time, even Sherri turned to look at me, her expression skeptical. "I swear, I'm not screwing around." I gestured to the big red splotch on the back of my hand, which thankfully wasn't the bandaged one.

"Really, if you're just trying to get attention," Kat started, folding his arms. Something flashed behind his eyes, something twitched at the corners of his mouth. A smile?

"I'm not, really!" I scoffed in frustration, an exasperated sigh accompanying it.

"Maybe it's Zweilous," Edwin offered, glancing at my chair.

"It's not - he's sound asleep!" I responded, rubbing my hand. "Oww... That really freaking hurt..." The rest of the group returned to what they had been doing for the second time in the span of five minutes. "That's weird..." I wondered if maybe I was just having some freakish muscle spasm, which scared me a little bit, so I slid my hands into my pockets to avoid hitting someone in the face.

Sidney gave me a sideways glance. "You sure you're okay? We can always get Nurse Joy to take a look at ya..."

"No, I'm fine." I dismissed the offer, shaking my head again. "I think it's just some weird little spasm. Like when you're just sitting there and then suddenly your leg or something starts to..." I trailed off when I felt something rubbing up against my foot, making me jerk it backwards to avoid the contact. I looked under the table, only to see that everything seemed to be in order. No one's feet were in my own little bubble of space. "I think I'm going insane."

"Well, that's cool," Sidney stated, a strange expression on his face. "I've never met anyone that can go from fine to insane in twenty seconds."

Kat glanced at me once more, although he continued speaking to Jayden as he did so. "Why do you keep looking over here?" I snapped, rubbing my forehead exasperatedly.

"I'll stop when you stop acting like a freak."

"I'm not acting like a freak - I'm just..." I didn't have any other way to describe it, though. This freakish occurrence.

"Fight nicely, children," Sidney practically chirped, as if he was interested in the tension between Kat and me.

I started to say something else, when the touchy feely thing came in contact with my foot again. I tried to move my chair backwards to get away from it, only to have it backfire horribly, since I had failed to remember that Zweilous was still perched beneath my chair. The pokemon screeched when the legs of the chair started to force themselves upon him, so he scrambled out from his safe haven, snapping his jaws blindly. It took a moment for me to steady the chair, to recover from the surprise, but it gave me enough of an opening to see another foot sliding back under the table.

"Kat!" I was practically steaming, my hands balling up in my pockets.

"What?" His reply was indignant, yet I could see that cocky flash behind his eyes.

I paused, my brow knitting as I thought to myself for a moment. _There are always better ways to get back at Kat. _So I merely sighed, rubbing my temples, almost crushing them beneath my fingertips as I tried to cool myself off. "Nothing; nevermind..." Another indignant snort followed as he turned back to his brother, who seemed completely oblivious to what was going on around him anymore, astutely focused on the conversation with his brother. With another sigh, I looked over to Zweilous, whose wings were arched and heads tilted to the sides, his blindness getting the best of him.

Pulling the berry pouch from my pocket, I plucked a few out to lure Zweilous back towards the chair. Sidney swallowed another bout of the soda pop, watching as the dual type eased himself towards me. It reminded me of the first time I had seen him, running around, slamming into walls. It had taken Cinccino's Cute Charm ability and a few tries with the use of the move attract, but eventually we lured him into a corner and caught him.

"Which pokemon d'you plan to keep on your team?" Sidney questioned, setting his glass down.

"I don't know," I answered, feeding the berries to Zweilous quickly so he wouldn't bite at my fingers. "Maybe I'll use Empoleon, since we've been together so long. Why?"

"You should keep Zweilous," he replied, sounding very sure of himself, yet still with that same casual assurance he always seemed to carry about himself. "That way you'll be able to trust each other. After all, there's no better trial of trainer and pokemon than facing new tasks." I had a sneaking suspicion that he was thinking of Absol, but didn't think to ask him, nor did I have the mind to.

"Are you sure?" I didn't know why I was asking this question, I thought, mentally facepalming.

"Completely." It was another sure reply from the master of dark types.

I looked back down to Zweilous, whose two heads were fighting with each other. "I watched a show on the Pokedex Channel where they featured Hydreigon and its evolutionary relatives... Hydreigon have three heads, but the two that act as its hands don't have brains."

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><p>After lunch, our small group meandered our way towards the beach, which was dotted here and there by tubers and their Marill. There was a small little shop at the end of the beach, which, as Sidney explained it, was a place people battled, with the winner receiving soda pop. Docked on the shore was another boat, which made my stomach churn, especially considering that this one was smaller and therefore closer to the water. Bleck.<p>

"This trip won't take as long as the last one," Sidney remarked, walking towards the boat with his hands in his pockets. "I usually sleep in the spare quarters below deck."

"Sleep sounds wonderful," Sherri chimed in listlessly, yawning and stretching. Trudy traded glances with me, as if sending that silent message that a new personality was showing itself. "I can never seem to get enough sleep..." Her wide green eyes were sleepy now, lids half closed, a Roserade having appeared at her side. It seemed as if she even had pokemon that each personality preferred.

"Well, this is the best way to get a little Skitty-nap in," Sidney added, nodding. As if right on cue, a tall, curly haired man (although his hair was crushed down and poofed out on the sides by his hat) leaned over the railing of the boat. He had a wildness about him that danced in his eyes like shadows dance across the walls, or like flames of a campfire licking upward as they consume the darkness of night. It was far different from the other captain; he was stiff and restricted, but this one... I shuddered at the thought that maybe this wouldn't be such a smooth ride.

The steps up to the boat were lowered, although it wasn't too far off from the ground. We piled up the steps with Sidney leading the way, Absol right behind him, its soft footfalls echoing his own. I had recalled Zweilous back to his pokeball, even though now I found myself mulling over the Elite's words, stirring up the desire to strengthen the dragon-and-dark type. I still had a pouchful of berries, and that was how my mother had trained Lillipup, by rewarding it with berries when it did something good.

Speaking of mom... I needed to call her when we reached Petalburgh. My mind shot in all sorts of different directions now, exacerbating my headache, so as we traveled across the water, I rubbed my temples, despising the thought of the blue, blue water around me, all the while enjoying that salty sea breeze. There was something about that sea breeze, a something that made the trouble of traveling by boat worthwhile.

"Butch..." The voice brought me out of my silent reverie; I tilted my head up with a questioning look, only to find Trudy standing before me.

"Oh. Hey. What's up?" I moved over so that she could sit on one of the crates beside me. With light, feathery steps, she came to the crates and took her seat, settling in comfortably as she glanced over her shoulder at the glittering water, reflecting the clouds.

"What was all of that at lunch today?" she queried, her brown eyes scrutinizing my countenance for a silent answer.

"I'm not really sure," was all that I could begin with. After a brief pause, I continued, "I think Kat was kicking me, though."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Are you positive that it wasn't Zweilous? Edwin had a point, after all."

I shook my head fervently. "No, no; it wasn't Zweilous. He was sleeping like a baby beneath my chair, and besides, it felt like I was being kicked, and I saw someone's foot sliding back under the table. I'm sure that if it was Kat - assuming it's not because I'm just _insane _- he was only doing it to make me look like an idiot." Trudy sat and thought for a moment, digesting my explanation.

"I suppose," she finally answered; however, it seemed as if my testimony had not sufficed.

"Trudy - it's not important. Whatever the cause, it's over now. Besides, I've been meaning to ask you what you think of Edwin." I hadn't expected the swift change of subject to fly with her; yet, as soon as I said his name her cheeks lit up with a bright shade of pink, one I'd never seen on her before, which surprised me. "I assume that you like him, then?" Her palms flew to her cheeks, covering her blush.

"Well, he's nice, and - oh, I think he's smart, too; he would be a good choice for holder of a pokedex - that and the fact that he..." She trailed off, her blush only intensifying, visible through her fingers as it spilled across the rest of her face. "Why don't we talk about something else - like a good book, or our pokemon? I haven't met yours and you've not met mine..."

I smiled at her sheepishly lost expression, her hands twitching between her pokeball belt and her tinted cheeks as she rose from her seat on the crate beside me. "It's fine," I responded, waving my hand. "We don't have to talk about Edwin anymore if you don't want to." She seemed relieved at my words, even though her hands still strayed between the belt and her cheeks.

As if some other force were at work in Trudy's favor, Sidney appeared from below deck, making a gesture for us to come towards him. "We're almost to Petalburgh. It'll only be a few more minutes. Could you tell the boys for me? I have no idea where they are." Before we even answered, the pink tuft of hair was disappearing below, receding into the depths of the boat once more.

"He certainly has some faith in people," Trudy commented, shaking her head.

"I want to be trained by Sidney," I told her, standing up. "He seems cool. That, and he's already helped me out with Zweilous."

"You'll need all the help you can get when it comes to the little devil, especially when he evolves," Trudy agreed as we started off to find the boys. "Hydreigon aren't the most well-tempered pokemon. The brainless heads don't help, either. They'll just snap at you, whether or not Hydreigon sends the signal to do so or not."

"It's going to be very interesting..." I admitted, more to myself than to Trudy. To tell the truth, I was afraid of Zweilous. Despite the feeling of pride towards him that sometimes stirred itself up in the pit of my stomach, I was aware of a fear towards him that felt natural and completely unnatural at the same time. Natural - I deemed it so because it felt like the effervescent instinct of preservation had appeared within me. He was a dangerous pokemon, one that could easily snap, still wild at heart. Yet, I found it to be unnatural nonetheless because we were partners, and partners are supposed to coincide with each other well, to trust one another, and trust for him was something I lacked.

We rounded a corner, spying Edwin first, who was perched at the railing, looking down at the various water-dwelling pokemon which we came upon since the boat was in more shallow water. Kat and Jayden were tucked in a corner, hidden by a shadow, speaking in the same low voices as before. I wanted to know what they were discussing, to know what was running through their minds, or at least Kat's, but I let it go as I walked towards them, breaking from Trudy for a moment.

"We're almost to Petalburgh," I started, only to stop a few paces away from them.

"All right," Kat replied hastily, dismissing me with the wave of his large hand. Had I been closer to him, I could have sworn that I saw flecks of sweat on his forehead and an unfamiliar nervousness in his usually caustic auburn eyes. Jayden spared a glance backwards, his dark eyes and stiff expression sending chills down my spine, enough to make the sea breeze suddenly uncomfortable, making me shiver.

"Is everything okay?" I couldn't resist asking, or taking another step forward, for that matter. Jayden's eyes immediately flicked away, locking with his brother's, whose eyes darkened with something akin to fear mixed with anger.

"Yes, everything is fine; now leave. We're trying to have a private conversation."

I stepped back, drawing away from them, shaking my head. Turning on my heels, I felt one of the pokeballs on my belt twitch slightly, the beast inside itching to escape. Zweilous wanted out, and if I didn't let him out, he would force his way out. Panicking slightly, I fumbled for the ball on my belt, second-guessing myself as to whether or not it was a good idea to let him loose like this. To remedy this fear, I dug my fingers into the berry pouch, readying myself to lure him closer and keep him calm.

The bright red light materialized to become Zweilous, who I was quick to bait with the berries. He took to them well, scarfing them down wholly. I don't even think he bothered to chew or taste them; he just swallowed them and purred for more. If purring is even the right word, I don't know - the sound that rumbled from within his chest sounded pleased enough.

As I crouched there, timidly stroking his wings and necks, I looked out towards the fast-approaching land. It seemed like a comfortable place to live, what with a fisherman lazily sitting on the sand, casting his line into the water. Trudy and Edwin had immersed themselves in the water types, while Kat and Jayden continued their secretive conversation. Sherri, I guessed, was still 'Skitty-napping' as Sidney had put it. I wondered how much longer it would be until we docked, relieved at the idea of dry land.

My wondering ceased after only a few minutes, for we slowly pulled up beside the dock, gaining the attention of the fisherman. Sidney and the captain appeared soon after, followed by a still sleepy Sherri, who corrected Trudy, saying that her name wasn't Sherri, but Emily. I got to my feet, taking my eyes off of Zweilous for but a moment to survey our surroundings a little more thoroughly, excited to see another new town.

Sherri, or Emily, as she was called now, approached me, stopping beside me to follow my gaze, yawning quietly. "I wonder where we'll be sleeping tonight... I hope the beds are comfy..." She stared off into the distance dreamily, her Roserade wearing a serene expression.

"You're making me sleepy," I said, her yawning becoming contagious. "It's not even two o'clock yet."

Emily simply laughed, her eyes moving between Roserade, the shore, and me. I glanced down at her Roserade, my own eyes shifting over to Zweilous, expecting to see him there, waiting for another berry or to see his two heads fighting. However, he wasn't right behind me like he had been just a few moments earlier. Instead, he was behind a rather unsuspecting Kat, his lips seemingly curled back into a pair of devious little smiles.

"Zweilous, wait-" I turned on my heels, ready to bolt towards him, but before I could even make a move, Zweilous had knocked Kat clean off of the deck, right over the railing. There was collective gasp as even Sidney's eyebrows shot up, my feet carrying me to that end of the deck, one hand coming to Zweilous' wing to pull him back, gaining a nip at the hand, which I ignored. Jayden leaned over the railing, as did I, my heart racing, waiting for Kat to surface, pangs of fear striking me throughout. A hundred different things probably crossed my mind in the time span of seconds, just watching the surface of the water, until finally - finally, he surfaced.

I let out a sigh of relief, my hand at my forehead, the panic subsiding. At once, the captain was beside us, checking to see if the trainer that had gone overboard was all right.

"_Butch_!" Kat's fist came down on the water, sending it splashing and rippling once more. He had a few choice words for not only Zweilous, but for me as well for letting the thing get so close to him.

"Sorry..." I tried to apologize, only to sound feeble like a lost child. I turned to Zweilous, who was snickering, both heads having grins plastered to their faces. This time, when I recalled him to his pokeball, I ignored the twitching. I didn't feel like making the same mistake twice. Jayden whipped around, moving towards the now-lowered set of steps, eager to retrieve his brother from the water. I followed suit, with Trudy, Sidney, and Edwin just behind.

The fisherman assisted with getting Kat out of the water, even offering the sopping wet boy his jacket. Kat just shook his head, his shirt stuck to his frame, his hair a mess. Sidney had me wait a few yards away, something I didn't protest to. It was probably best just not to get involved or risk making things worse. As I stood and watched the others help Kat, a shadow cast over me - literally. I turned my eyes just slightly, only to see a rather tall figure towering over me.

"This is why you never take your eyes off of a pokemon you don't trust, not even for a second." Dressed in a cape, wearing no shirt, accompanied by boots, and tattered looking pants with a sea captain's hat stood a very imposing looking man. His arms were crossed, his expression scrutinizing. I averted my gaze, scratching my head, suddenly finding my shoes so very interesting.

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><p><strong>What did you think? Please, tell me in a review! I appreciate them all! <strong>

**~Peaches **


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